Princesses of Power and Robots in Disguise
by Epiclot214
Summary: Two worlds on opposite ends of the universe have been ravaged by war. One is gone, but the other still has a chance. When a mysterious event attracts a group of Autobots to Etheria, they become involved with the great mystery of She-Ra while the cunning Catra makes a secret alliance with the evil forces of the Decepticons.
1. The Sword part 1

War is a universal constant. No matter where you go, there will always be a chance for conflict. But it doesn't keep peace down forever. But this time, when two worlds at war begin to destroy themselves, the only chance they have is to end their wars together.

Etheria. A beautiful, bountiful planet with magic and happiness for all. Each kingdom ruled over a different domain, such as ice, science, and even the ocean. It was a peaceful time… until the Horde showed up. Their heinous leader, Lord Hordak, seeks to conquer all the kingdoms and rule the world. The princesses tried to stand up to him together, but they were dealt a great blow. Now, they stand divided and the war is at its darkest hour.

Cybertron. A once-prosperous planet filled with metallic organisms with the power to transform into vehicles. They too were once peaceful until Megatron rose with his legions of Decepticons. The Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, also rose up to counteract the threat. After hundreds of years, their war finally took its toll on their home planet. Now, they are forced into exodus looking for a new home.

Two worlds ravaged by war. Two stories both similar and different at the same time. Now, they are about to merge.

* * *

In the deep reaches of space was a small scout ship manned by six Autobots. There was a red Autobot named Hot Rod, a blue female Autobot named Arcee, a black Autobot named Prowl, a bright-blue Autobot named Seaspray, a yellow Autobot named Bumblebee, and an orange Minicon named Fixit. The first thing that happened was the first thing that always happens: Hot Rod complaining.

"Is anyone else bored? Because I am."

"You'd probably be less bored if you actually helped us." Arcee said.

"What's the point?" Hot Rod asked. "It's all gonna say the same anyway. We've been scouting the area for Energon for cycles and all we've got to show for it is a depleting tank of fuel. We haven't found a single drop."

"I know this isn't the sort of action you signed up for, Hot Rod," Prowl said, "But it's important not to let your negative emotions get the best of you. In the end, we are our own worst enemies."

"Sounds like we've got more of that Autobot ninja wisdom." Seaspray said sarcastically. "Just what I've always wanted."

Bumblebee made an electronic buzzing noise with his mouth.

"I do so have the right to say that." Seaspray responded. "Hot Rod and I are itching for action. I know not every bot is meant for battle."

"Are you looking at me when you say that?" Fixit said.

"Look, let's just make one last inspection before we have to return to the Ark." Arcee said. "Then, maybe, you two can go find a place to bust some Cons."

"With any luck." Hot Rod said as he stared back out the window and into space.

* * *

This day had some ups and downs for the Horde soldier, Adora. She was promoted to Force Captain, so she decided to celebrate with her best friend, Catra, by taking a skimmer out for a joyride. Thanks to Catra's reckless attitude, the two of them journeyed through the Whispering Woods where Adora fell off and separated from her friend.

Adora groaned as she got up and continued to walk hoping to find Catra. But then, she found a bright light of blue glowing from behind the bushes. When she got a better look, she saw a big sword with a golden handle and a blue gem. Her curiosity got the best of her and she touched it. Suddenly, she got many visions at once and heard a strange voice. When the visions stopped, she fell backward while the Whispering Woods shifted the sword out of sight. Suddenly, without warning, many things started protruding from the ground. It was dozens of different crystals sprouting out of the ground like daisies. Energon crystals.

* * *

Without warning, a blip appeared on the Autobots' radar.

"What's that?" Wheeljack asked.

"It's an Energon beacon." Fixit explained. "We've just found a huge Ener- Ener- Ener-" He hit himself to get himself straight. "Energon reading."

"How?" Arcee asked. "There wasn't anything there a second ago."

"Does it matter?" Hot Rod asked. "Finally, something new!"

"Guys, it's off-course." Arcee said. "They don't even have stars in that part of the universe. Going that way will deplete our Energon reserves and we'll never get back to Optimus."

"But the Energon there will be worth it." Hot Rod said. "I say we check it out, take some, and invite the rest of the Autobots with us."

"What if it's a trap or a malfunction?" Arcee asked.

"What if it's not." Hot Rod said. "Odds are, if it is real, then soon, the Decepticons will notice too and they'll take the Energon for themselves. We gotta check it out, even if it's to make sure the 'Cons can't get to it."

Arcee was still suspicious, but she knew she had no choice. "All right. Seaspray, take us to the Energon source."

"Aye, aye." Seaspray complied.

* * *

Shadow Weaver was nervous. Earlier, crystals began sprouting from the ground all around her. Everywhere she turned, there was at least one small crystal in her sight. And she wasn't the only one who noticed it. That's why she was summoned to Hordak's inner sanctum. She bowed as Hordak had finished putting on his armor.

"Lord Hordak." She addressed.

"Shadow Weaver," Hordak returned as he gripped on one of the Energon crystals and broke it, "Would you mind telling me what's going on? Where did these crystals come from?"

"I don't know, sir." Shadow Weaver said. "All I can tell is that they have some sort of mysterious power behind them. I'm about to round up the soldiers to address this. I want to hear from you first, sir."

Hordak growled. "Resume your normal duties and keep me informed if these crystals do anything else."

"Yes, sir." Shadow Weaver complied. "I assume this means the attack on Thaymor is still to commence?"

"Do whatever you want with that worthless patch of land." Hordak said.

* * *

Out in the far reaches of space, a Decepticon battleship patrolled the stars. At the center of the bridge stood a Decepticon with jet wings sticking out of his back. A Vehicon approached him.

"Commander Starscream," he addressed, "We've just detected a sudden appearance of Energon in Despondos."

"Despondos?" Starscream asked. "Impossible. That galaxy barely has anything inside of it and its too far from Cybertron to have any traces of Energon. How could we detect anything from it?"

"Unknown, sir." The Vehicon answered. "But our readings say it's practically covered in Energon. Should we investigate?"

"If this turns out to be a dead end, Megatron will scrap me for wasting valuable resources." Starscream said. "But then again, this could be to good to ignore. Send Blitzwing."

* * *

The Autobot spaceship landed right in the middle of the Whispering Woods. They found a place big enough to park, but hide from wandering eyes. Once Hot Rod looked outside, he was amazed to see the crystals sprouting from the ground.

"I don't believe it!" he cheered. "Energon crystals… everywhere! It's amazing!"

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Bumblebee's right." Arcee said. "We have no idea what this place is or why there aren't any stars to be seen in light years."

"Then we look around the place." Hot Rod suggested.

"This place does have a natural beauty about it." Prowl said. "Though, I sense something off."

"Well, what now?" Seaspray asked.

"Fixit, you stay here to send a message to Optimus at the Ark." Arcee said. "The rest of us will look around, but remember where we parked the ship."

"I'll get right on it." Fixit said.

But before he could, the Autobots were distracted by a bright blue light that emitted across the field. They were entranced by the brief moment it appeared.

"What the scrap was that?" Seaspray asked.

"I don't know." Arcee said before she pulled out her weapon. "Stay on your guard."

Slowly, the Autobots left the ship and approached the source of the light. They brushed through bushes and tree branches to reach their site. When they made it, they gazed at a sword in the center of a clearing. It was a sword with a golden handle and a gemstone embedded in it.

"What is that?" Hot Rod asked.

"I don't know." Arcee said. "But be cautious. We don't know what…"

Suddenly, something came out of the bushes from different sides of the clearing. On one side was Adora grazing through the fauna while on the other side were two other teenagers. One was a girl in a pink, sparkling dress and the other was a boy with a bow-and-arrow. As soon as they all entered the clearing, they stopped when they saw each other as well as the Autobots.

"IT'S THE HORDE!" the sparkling girl, named Glimmer, screamed.

"AND THEY GOT ROBOTS!" the archer kid, named Bow, screamed.

Suddenly, Adora started darting toward the sword. Glimmer saw what she was doing and disappeared in a pink flash. She reappeared in an identical flash tackling Adora. Meanwhile, Bow readied his arrows and launched them at the Autobots. They dodged them.

"Oh, you wanna play nuts?" Seaspray asked as he changed his hands into cannons. "Okay! Let's get nuts!"

"Seaspray!" Arcee shouted as she dragged him behind the trees with the rest of her team. "Don't harm the natives! Remember Optimus' protocol!"

"But they attacked first!" Seaspray argued.

"They called us something." Prowl said avoiding more arrows. "I think there's a misunderstanding. We should correct it before they harm the trees any further."

"Trees later, Prowl!" Hot Rod shouted.

During the debate, Adora managed to wrestle her way to the sword and touched the handle. Suddenly, she passed out leaving Bow and Glimmer to confront the Autobots.

"What happened?" Bow asked.

"I don't know." Glimmer said. "How are we doing about the robots?"

"Working on it." Bow said.

"Uh, correction!" Fixit shouted from the bushes. "We're Autobots."

"Look!" Hot Rod shouted. "This is some kind of misunderstanding. We don't have any quarrel with you."

"Well, we didn't build you." Glimmer said. "Which only leaves the Horde!"

"Or Entrapta." Bow said.

"I don't understand what any of you are talking about." Arcee said. "Look, we're coming out, so let us talk."

Bow and Glimmer looked at each other hesitantly. They nodded their heads and reluctantly decided to lower their weapons. While the Autobots walked out with their servos up, Glimmer went to tie up Adora and secure the sword.

"Who are you guys?" Bow asked.

"Well, I suppose in your eyes, we're aliens." Prowl said.

"Aliens?" Glimmer asked. "You expect us to believe something that silly?"

"But it's true." Fixit said. "We come from the planet, Cy-Cy-Cy…" SMACK! "Cybertron."

"What's up with him?" Bow asked.

"Technical glitch." Hot Rod said. "It happens."

They all responded to Adora as she awoke from unconsciousness. She looked at her captors and the Autobots.

"What the?" she asked in surprise. "What's going on? Why does a princess have giant robots?"

"Really?" Bow asked. "But we thought they were with you."

"Obviously, they're not." Adora said.

"Quiet, Horde soldier!" Glimmer threatened. She then turned back to the Autobots. "Now, back to the rest of you. I'm Glimmer, princess of Bright Moon. And this is my friend, Bow."

"I'm Arcee, commander of this unit. This is Hot Rod, Bumblebee, Prowl, Seaspray, and Fixit."

"Unit?" Bow asked. "Does that mean there are more of you?"

"Tons actually." Hot Rod said.

"We're part of an army for justice and peace called the Autobots." Arcee said. "Long ago, on the planet Cybertron, a tyrant known as Megatron assembled his Decepticon empire and made it his mission to conquer all that he saw. The Autobots were made as a response to it. Our war waged on for centuries until it destroyed our home planet. We left Cybertron for a new start, but our war with the Decepticons still go on."

"So why are you here on Etheria?" Glimmer asked.

"We were just grazing the outer rim of this starless galaxy when we detected a large Energon spike on this planet." Prowl said.

"Ener-what?" Bow asked.

"Energon." Arcee said. She gripped her servos around a nearby Energon crystal and plucked it from the ground. "It's the lifeblood of our race. We can't survive without it. We find these crystals that are housed on other worlds and synthesize them for us to utilize."

"So that's what these crystals are for?" Glimmer asked. "What are you going to do?"

"Hopefully, we contact our leader, Optimus Prime, and tell him to send more teams to harvest them." Arcee answered. "Judging by how many we found so far, this could be a while."

"Right." Glimmer said. "Excuse us for a second." She grabbed Bow's arm and pulled him aside. She whispered excitedly. "This is perfect!"

"Perfect?" Bow asked. "How?"

"Bow, we've got a Horde spy, a piece of First Ones tech, and a group of giant robot soldiers." Glimmer explained. "Once my mom sees all this, there's no way she cannot listen to me anymore."

"You really think we can ask them to help just like that?" Bow asked.

"Absolutely." Glimmer said. She then turned back to the Autobots. "All right. We'll do everything we can to help you with these rocks. But first, you need to know what it is we're involved with here. We're also at a war here."

"You are?" Hot Rod asked.

"The Horde showed up suddenly and started to conquer everything in sight." Glimmer said. "They destroy whatever they don't enslave. Me and Bow are part of a rebellion that opposes them, but our resources are limited right now. If you come with us to our home in Bright Moon, you can discuss it with the queen."

"What do you think, guys?" Arcee asked her teammates.

"If this is true, then they might need our help." Prowl answered.

"Well, Optimus wouldn't want any other world to end up like Cybertron." Hot Rod said.

"Seems like a waste of time, but hey, that's probably just Wrecker talk." Seaspray said. "Ultimately, I'd say let's do it."

"We do need as much Energon as we can get," Fixit said, "And this planet appears to have a sur-sur-sur-sur-sur…" SMACK! "Surplus."

Arcee turned back at the rebels. "All right. Lead the way."

Glimmer and Bow lead the trail through the forest with the Autobots behind them. Glimmer was holding onto the sword while Hot Rod was in charge of carrying the tied-up Adora.

"You're awfully quiet, kid." Hot Rod said.

"Just trying to understand." Adora said. "I mean, it's not often I actually meet aliens."

"You seem smart." Hot Rod said. "You seem a bit young to be an evil soldier."

"For your information, you're being tricked." Adora said. "The rebels are the evil ones, especially the princesses."

"Princesses are evil?" Hot Rod asked.

"Well, yeah." Adora said. "Don't you have anything like that on your home planet?"

"First of all, we don't have anything on our home planet. It's destroyed, remember? Secondly, we don't have princesses. We had our own government… until Megatron destroyed it."

"Well, the rebel leader, Queen Angella, is basically our Megatron." Adora said. "If she had her way, princesses would run wild with their immense power they have no control over. I bet they're going to be leading you into a trap where they can tear you apart and see what makes you tick. The Horde only wants to restore order."

"Look, kid, that's a good speech, but look at it from my perspective. That Glimmer girl says you're evil. You say she's evil. We just arrived on this planet about an hour ago, so we can't tell. So unless we find any evidence of a trap, we'll just have to…"

Hot Rod stopped when he saw that the rest had stopped. At the front, Glimmer stood staring at something that seemed to have devastated her. Her eyes were locked at a collection of ruined buildings as if they were victims of a terrible storm.

"What happened here?" Adora asked.

"Don't play dumb!" Glimmer shouted in anger. "I bet you were part of the raid that did this, were you?"

"What are you talking about?" Adora asked. "The Horde didn't do this."

"Oh, yeah?" Glimmer looked around for something. She pointed at a spherical robot with a certain logo on it. "Then how do you explain that? That's the Horde symbol!"

"Is this true?" Seaspray asked.

"Well, yeah, it is." Adora said. "But this doesn't make any sense. The Horde only attacks rebel bases."

"That's a lie!" Glimmer shouted. "This place was defenseless!"

"The Horde has raised me ever since I was a baby." Adora argued. "I know them. They wouldn't do this."

"As a baby?" Prowl asked. "You mean like in a premature age?"

Bumblebee buzzed.

"You really think so?" Arcee asked.

"You understood that?" Bow asked.

"It takes some getting used to." Arcee said. "He said that maybe the kid really has no idea what the Horde's really like."

"How could she not know?" Bow asked. "I mean, they're literally called the Evil Horde."

"What?" Adora asked. "Who calls us that?"

"Everybody!" Bow answered like it was obvious.

Adora fell silent for a minute taking the time to think. Suddenly, her eyes caught a slight sparkle in the sky. "Uh, what's that up there?"

The rest looked up and squinted. Up in the sky, there was an aerial vehicle nosediving.

"That design." Arcee said. "That paint job." Her optics widened as she recognized it. "It's Blitzwing!"

"Here?" Fixit asked in fear. "Hide me!"

"Who's that?" Glimmer asked.

"He's a Decepticon." Seaspray said. "An unstable one too."

"But look at the size of that flying vehicle." Bow said. "How could a giant robot fit inside of it?"

"Oh, yeah, we forgot to tell you about that part." Hot Rod said.

"What part?" Adora asked.

"Blitzwing isn't piloting that aircraft." Arcee said.

Suddenly, right before it hit the ground, parts of the jet started to shift in position. It twisted and turned its parts until it gained a gigantic, humanoid body. He had two cannons tied to his shoulders and a blue face was displayed.

"Blitzwing is the aircraft." Arcee finished.

"Well, isn't this interesting." The Decepticon said in a calm French accent. "I figured Starscream sent me here to die, but instead, I found Energon crystals by the score and a group of Autobots to exterminate."

"Uh…" Bow said still awestruck. "How did he do that?"

"We Cybertronians can change into vehicles." Fixit said. "Well, not Minicons, though. We're to ti-ti-ti…" SMACK! "Tiny. Blitzwing is a special case though. He's a triple-changer, which means he has two vehicle modes."

"And look, you already adopted three pets." Blitzwing continued. "Too bad I'll crush them alongside you before more Autobots arrive."

"Bring it, you tri-polar tin can!" Seaspray shouted.

Suddenly, Blitwing's face spun to a red one with a Russian accent.

"**You bring it, barnacle breath!**" he raged. Suddenly, he changed into a tank and started firing beams of fire. Everyone hid behind the trees as cover.

"Careful, you idiot!" Hot Rod shouted. "If one of your blasts ignites at least one of these crystals, a chain reaction could start and we could be blown sky-high!"

Blitzwing changed back into robot form and switched back to his blue face.

"Good point." He agreed. "Might be safer to just freeze you." He aimed his other cannon and fired a freezing beam to the trees.

"We'll have to go close range to beat him!" Arcee said. "Hot Rod, you stay here and protect the kids!"

"Hey, do I look like a babysitter to you?" Hot Rod asked.

"We want to help!" Glimmer said.

"You can't defeat him." Arcee replied. "Even though he's outnumbered, there's little chance we'll get out this alive. This is all we can do."

Arcee then shifted her body changing into a blue motor bike. She drove through the field and changed again to land a dropkick on Blitzwing. While he was dazed, Bumblebee and Seaspray joined in. Prowl jumped to the tree and threw metal shurikens from above.

Blitzwing got the advantage back by grabbing Bumblebee and swung him knocking Arcee and Seaspray back. He then threw Bumblebee to where he saw the shurikens coming from. Prowl jumped out of the way, but was blasted by a short ice beam that knocked him back. Prowl hit the trunk of a tree with a frozen torso.

"Prowl!" Hot Rod shouted. "Oh, now, you've don it now! Stay here, kids!"

"Hot Rod, don't!" Arcee shouted.

Hot Rod didn't listen. Instead, he leaped from cover and sprinted towards the Decepticon. He tried to fire another ice blast, but the Autobot tackled him before he could. Blitzwing grabbed Hot Rod by the back of his neck and rolled him over on his back and aimed his other cannon right in front of his face.

"I don't think I have to worry about blowing up Energon crystals at this range." Blitzwing said before changing back to his red face. "**Prepare to fry, Autobot!**"

"No!" Glimmer shouted. She teleported again right in front of Blitzwing and fired a sparkling blast from her hands.

The Decepticon's head was pushed back a bit, but he shrugged it off. He then changed back to his blue face.

"**Is that all you got, little organic?**" Blitzwing asked before getting another meaningless sparkle blast. He then changed into a third face, one that was pitch black with menacing, red eyes and mouth. This face came with a psychotic voice. "_Ooh! So that's where all the stars went!_"

Bow joined in and fired his arrows. Blitzwing was taken aback again when they started to explode at him.

"What are you two doing?" Hot Rod asked. "I told you to stay put!"

"And your commander told you to watch us!" Glimmer retorted. "This is called 'the pot calling the kettle black'."

During the fight, Adora saw her chance. Even with her hands bound, she grabbed the strange sword that Glimmer dropped when she teleported. She started to turn, but she shifted her eyes back at the fight. The Autobots and the rebels were doing something to Blitzwing, but he brushed it off like it was nothing. If something wasn't done, Blitzwing would win. As much as Adora would like to see that happen to "traitorous rebels", something inside her helped her begin to wonder. She could have just taken the sword and ran away, but instead, she decided to contribute.

Adora screamed and ran toward the Decepticon. When he noticed her, she swung her sword and it scratched his foot.

"**That is it!**" he shouted as he raised his fist. "**Time to get crushed!**"

Instinctively, Adora raised her sword in between them without even thinking. When Blitzwing slammed his fist down, he expected her to be crushed right away. Instead, when he made contact with the blade, his fist was held back and a blue light came from the sword.

The Autobots and the rebels huddled to the side seeing the strange display. They looked at Adora's face, her eyes gazing in a blank as if she was in a trance.

"What is this?" Blitzwing asked with his blue face struggling to get his fist down on her. "How could a tiny girl be so strong?"

With a strong push, Adora lifted Blitswing's servos away from her right before exclaiming a mighty and proud proclamation.

"FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!"

A brighter flash of light burst from Adora reflecting off the Energon crystals. It nearly blinded everyone who was there. When it dimmed, the Autobots and rebels were amazed at who stood before them. She looked a lot like Adora, but not only was she taller, but her clothes were incredibly different from her Horde uniform. She wore a white, flowing outfit with a gold outline. And on top of her blonde hair was a golden tiara. The way she looked, it was obvious that her life had just begun to change.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_I was struggling whether or not to make this fanfic. I always wanted to make a Transformers crossover story, but the problem was finding the perfect show to pair it with. Then, I saw She-Ra on Netflix and brainstormed with ideas while I was binging it. Now, I got some reviews in the past about not making enough changes from the story, so I'm gonna try to do my best. For one thing, I'm not going to include Swift Wind. I keep finding some annoyed reviews about him. Instead, She-Ra's companion shall be Hot Rod. I'll do my best with liberties and I really want this to work. Hope you like it. Any and all comments are welcome._


	2. The Sword part 2

"Uh, guys," Seaspray said staring at Adora's new look, "First off… WHAT?! And second of all, THE HECK?!"

"Scientifically speaking… I have no idea." Fixit said. He turned to the two humans beside him.

"Don't look at us." Glimmer said. "This is new to us too."

"Well, whatever this is," Blitzwing said, "It won't make a difference."

Blitzwing raised his fist again ready to strike again. He swung it down, but Adora countered by striking it back with the sword stunning everyone who was watching. Adora then leaped up to his blue face and swung her own punch at it. The fist connected and miraculously, Blitzwing was knocked backwards into the thick trees. Adora landed back on the ground and began to shake her head. When she was done, she took one look at her new appearance… and shrieked.

"What the?" she asked.

"That's what we said." Hot Rod said.

Suddenly, Adora's white dress and gilded tiara disappeared and she was back in her Horde uniform. Glimmer teleported right in front of her and grabbed the sword attempting to take it.

"How did you do that?" Glimmer asked.

"Me?" Adora asked trying to keep the sword. "What about you? I had no idea being a princess was contagious!"

"But what about the other thing?" Arcee asked. "How could you knock Blitzwing out with one punch?"

"I don't know!" Adora said.

"She didn't."

Everyone stopped when they heard Blitzwing's groan as he emerged from the trees switching to his red face, but this time, his face was more red than normal.

"**You've really pushed my buttons, organic! I'm going to burn you alive, freeze your corpse…**" He switched to his black face, "_And grind you up into snow cones!_"

"No, you don't!" Hot Rod shouted as he prepared his blaster. But before he had the chance to use it, Blitzwing aimed his fire cannon and shot a blast right to Hot Rod's shoulder. He groaned in pain.

"Hot Rod!" Arcee gasped. "We're gonna have to retreat! We can't risk a firefight in the middle of an Energon field!"

"Right!" Glimmer agreed freeing the sword from Adora's grasp. "Good idea!"

The Autobots and the humans ran into the trees while Blitzwing changed into a tank and began to give chase.

"**YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME, AUTOBOTS!**" he shouted. "**I'LL HUNT YOUR DOWN AND YOUR LITTLE ORGANICS TOO!**"

The chase ended when the Bots and humans fell down a steep slope and onto a metal floor. In front of them was an unidentifiable spire erecting above the trees.

"What's that?" Arcee asked.

"All I know is, it's better than out here with that thing!" Bow shouted as he sprinted towards it.

When they approached one side of the spire, they examined it hoping to find some way inside.

"Now what?" Seaspray asked.

"Wait, that word." Adora said pointing at the strange inscription written on it. "I think it's some kind of password."

"Word?" Glimmer asked. "You can read that?"

"You can't?" Adora asked.

Suddenly, trees were thrown out of their rightful places and thrown as Blitzwing finally made it to the metal trench.

"Well, don't just stand there staring at it!" Hot Rod shouted. "Say it!"

"Uh… 'Eternia'!" Adora read aloud.

Suddenly, the glyphs on the wall began to glow. The door opened with effort, but eventually, the good guys went through and the door slammed before the bad guy could get in. Blitzwing tried to search, but there was no longer a way in. He changed back to his blue face.

"Well, that's unfortunate." He said. "Better call this in." He pressed the side of his head and awaited his commander's voice. His wait was short-lived when Starscream answered.

"Blitzwing, status report."

"Well, Commander Starscream," Blitzwing said, "I made it to this planet called Etheria, and it appears our intel was right. This place is nearly covered in Energon."

"Really?" Starscream asked. "So far out in space. That's odd. What else do you know?"

"Actually, that's why I'm calling." Blitzwing said. "When I came to this planet, I encountered a group of Autobots."

"Autobots?" Starscream repeated.

"Yes." Blitzwing answered. "They include Arcee, Bumblebee, a Wrecker, a ninja, a rookie, and a Minicon."

"Well, you took care of them, right?" Starscream asked.

"Actually…" Blitzwing said. "They escaped."

"What?!" Starscream asked. "You've decimated two Wreckers at once back on Cybertron, and now, you're saying you lost a handful of Autobots?"

Blitzwing changed into his red face. "**It wasn't my fault, Starscream! It was the little organic who punched me in the face!**"

"You expect me to believe that a little organic bested you?" Starscream asked.

Blitzwing changed to blue. "Well, she started off as very little, but then, she grew a few feet." He changed into his black face. "_Maybe she ate some magic beans._"

"Silence!" Starscream shouted. "If you insist on disappointing me like Megatron keeps believing I disappoint him, then I will have to take matters into my own servos. I'm coming and I'll bring Soundwave with me to document my conquest over this Energon-covered planet and the Autobots there."

* * *

Speaking of the Autobots, the team found themselves inside of the metal structure. Glimmer used her powers to light up a small part of the area.

"Okay, fess up." Glimmer demanded as she looked at Adora. "How did you read that on the door?"

"I don't know." Adora answered. "I just sorta knew what it said."

"Riiiiight. You just happened to speak a language no one has spoken in thousands of years. Suuuuure."

"Glimmer, we can discuss this later." Bow interfered. "Right now, we need to find a way out before that evil bot finds a way in here."

"So what is this place?" Hot Rod asked.

"It's a First Ones temple." Bow said.

"What are the First Ones?" Prowl asked.

"They're said to be the original settlers of Etheria." Bow explained. "They gave us art, culture, wonders we couldn't imagine."

"What happened to them?" Arcee asked.

"No one knows." Bow said. "They disappeared without a trace over a thousand years ago leaving strange technology for us to find. You wouldn't by any chance know any First Ones, do you?"

"I'm afraid that's news to us." Fixit said. "Apologies."

"Hey, kid." Hot Rod said turning to Adora who was walking beside him. "Thanks for saving my chassis back there."

"Oh, that?" Adora asked. "You're welcome, I guess."

"You guess?" Hot Rod asked. "You sucker-punched an elite Decepticon soldier in the face. Optimus would give you high honors."

"Optimus." Adora repeated. "He's your leader, right? What's he like?"

"Oh, he's a legend among legends." Hot Rod said. "The Primes are the most elite Cybertronians in the universe and Optimus is the last of them. After our old leader, Zeta Prime, died, Optimus took his mantle and honored his own code no matter how hard the Decepticons pushed him."

"Sounds like a cool guy." Adora said.

"Guys, I found something!" Seaspray shouted.

Everyone caught up to him to the side of a spherical room. Before them was a window painting of a familiar figure.

"Hey, it's you." Hot Rod said.

"What do you mean?" Adora asked. "That looks nothing like me."

"No, I mean, it's what you looked like earlier. You know, with the glow and the costume. You pretty much turned into this."

"Really?" Adora asked.

"Look!" Fixit said pointing at the lines underneath the portrait. "It's more of that encryption… Er, inscription. Can you read it, Adora?"

"I think." Adora said before kneeling down for a closer look. "It says… 'She-Ra'."

Suddenly, a new light filled up the room. It was a colorful light, and in the center appeared a new figure: a female hologram with poor quality.

"Greetings, administrator." It said. "What is your query?"

"Is she… talking to us?" Seaspray asked.

Fixit approached the hologram and examined the base floor its on. "Hmm. It appears that this is a pre-recorded hologram meant to respond to our questions."

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Good idea." Arcee said as she approached the hologram. "How do we get out?"

"What is your query?" the hologram repeated.

"She's old." Glimmer said. "Probably busted. I'm surprised anything still works at all." Her hand accidently went into the hologram, which in turn became red.

"Administrator not detected!" the hologram shouted. "Lockdown initiated!"

Suddenly, the entire room became engulfed in a red light and the doors surrounding them slammed shut. During the lockdown, the room began to fall into debris around them.

"That's not good." Hot Rod said. "Adora, find a way to stop it!"

"What makes you think I can?" Adora asked.

"Query not recognized." The hologram said.

"Perhaps there's a password that you can use!" Hot Rod said. "Say something! Anything!"

"Uh, stop!" Adora commanded. "Uh… Eternia!" She then gazed at the window of the figure known as She-Ra; more specifically, the sword. "Quick, Glimmer! Give me the sword!"

"What? No!" Glimmer denied.

"We need the scary lady in the cape!" Adora shouted. "I don't know how, but she's the key to this place, so maybe she can get us out!"

Fixit moved left and right away from debris. "That does sound lo-lo-lo…" A rock hit him on the head. "Logical!" He immediately dove underneath Seaspray for cover.

"Are you kidding me?" Glimmer asked. "She's a Horde soldier! I'm not giving away the sword!"

"Do you have a better plan?" Arcee asked.

Glimmer looked at everyone and took a big, deep breath. She came in contact with everyone as soon as they all huddled together.

"HOLD ON!" Glimmer shouted sealing her eyes shut.

"Glimmer, don't!" Bow warned.

Instead of listening, Glimmer went along with her plan. In a flash, the entire team disappeared in a sparkly flash. The next thing anyone knew, they were falling from the sky and into the ground. Bow shot an arrow that produced a safety net that surprisingly caught all of them.

Bow went on to Glimmer and shook her.

"Glimmer! Glimmer!" Bow cried out. Eventually, the princess awoke. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay!"

"What was that?" Arcee asked.

"I kinda teleported us out of that place." Glimmer said as she regained her composure.

"Why didn't you do that when Blitzwing attacked?" Seaspray asked.

"Because she has limits." Bow said. "She has to recharge her powers with her mom's Runestone and she's never teleported with more than one person before. Frankly, I'm surprised she was able to take me, Adora, and six giant robots with her safely."

"I'll be fine." Glimmer said. "Just need a little charge, and I'll be fine." She glared at Adora, who was without her roped binding her wrists. "Why are you still here?"

"What do you mean?" Adora asked.

"You could've left whenever you wanted." Glimmer said. "Earlier when we were fighting that Blitzwing guy. And just now when I was recovering. Why didn't you leave?"

Adora took a moment to think and gave her answer. "I… need to find out more about myself. The Horde found me as a baby and took me in, but that's all I really know. Shadow Weaver said that my past didn't matter and I should just stay loyal to Hordak, but being here now, with you guys, finding out there are secrets of the Horde I never knew, it all feels familiar somehow. I want to know more, and you all seem to find answers anyway."

"Well, Glimmer's mom knows more about First Ones tech than anyone." Bow said. "If anyone can help find you answers, it's her."

"The Energon crystals around here are somehow connected to the First Ones, so we have as much at stake as anyone else." Arcee said. "You can bet we're in."

"All right, then." Glimmer said. "There's a village a few miles from here. They can give us a ride to Bright Moon."

"Why don't we just ride on the Autobots?" Bow asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Seaspray asked. "Do we look like rides to you?"

"But you turn into vehicles." Bow said. "Vehicles tend to have passengers."

"Not us." Prowl said. "There's no room for anyone, unless you want to ride on top of us without a strap."

"Good to know." Bow said. "The village it is."

* * *

"For the last time, where is Adora?" Shadow Weaver growled at Catra in her sanctum. The evil witch was staring into her cauldron while Catra was slouching in the corner.

"I told you, I don't know." Catra said. "You think I keep her on a leash?"

"I know you know." Shadow Weaver insisted. "I know you and she are close. She'd never go anywhere without telling you."

"Then, I guess she let us both down." She took a step to the side, but flinched when she realized she almost stepped on a small Energon crystal erected from the ground. "What's the deal with these dumb rocks?"

"Perhaps they have something to do with the giant robots." Shadow Weaver said.

"What?" Catra asked in disbelief.

"The giant robots that are currently traveling with Adora." Shadow Weaver explained.

"How do you know who she's with?"

"We've been tracking her. I know where she's going to be."

"Then why were you interrogating me?"

"Because you are going to lead the assault and bring her back."

Catra laughed. "In your dreams." She started to walk away, but with a wave of Shadow Weaver's hand, Catra stopped frozen in a red, dark force overwhelming her body.

"Don't turn your back on me." Shadow Weaver warned. "If you don't bring Adora back, I will make you wish you were never born. And if you see those giant robots, exterminate them with extreme prejudice!"

As much as Catra would love to sass Shadow Weaver again, she was too afraid to stand up to her. She knew she had to reluctantly obey.

* * *

At the edge of the forest, the Autobots, Adora, Glimmer, and Bow found a village full of huts and people celebrating in a festival. Some of the people were putting Energon crystals into large barrels while others were fixing the damages they made. The rest were partying.

"This is the place." Glimmer said. "Before anything…" She swiped a white rag from a nearby hanger and wrapped it around Adora's uniform.

"What's this?" Adora asked.

"We can't let everyone see that you're a Horde soldier. It'll freak everyone out." Glimmer explained.

"I feel ridiculous." Adora commented.

"Oh, I know!" Bow said. He plucked a blue flower and put it above Adora's hair. That just made her feel worse.

"Now, that's funny." Hot Rod said. "Hmm. Looks like they just finished plucking the Energon crystals from the area. Perhaps when we leave, we can ask to have it."

"By the way," Glimmer said, "You guys can't come."

"What? Why? I thought that was the plan." Seaspray asked.

"I mean, you can't follow us in the village." Glimmer said. "A Horde soldier is scary. A group of giant robots with cannons in their arms is scarier. As soon as we get our ride, you can just follow us out."

"Fair enough." Arcee said.

"Just remember," Hot Rod said, "You go in, get the ride you need, then leave with us behind you. Got it?"

"I don't know." Adora said sarcastically. "Maybe I should take notes." She walked into the village with Bow and Glimmer at her side before Hot Rod could respond.

"What? Sweet Primus, I'm being punished, aren't I?"

* * *

It's been minutes, and the Autobots still haven't got word about when Adora and the rebels were leaving.

"You'd think they'd let us know by now." Prowl said.

"Maybe they got caught up in the festivities." Hot Rod said. "I know I'd be distracted. It's been eons since I've been to a good party."

"We don't have time for such enjoyment." Arcee said. "Blitzwing is still out there and he's likely to have called in reinforcements. We need to be alert until we get to this Bright Moon place."

"Look at Commander Arcee, killing the mood again." Hot Rod said.

"Hot Rod, if you just take this more seriously…"

"Oh, boy." Seaspray said from the side. "There they go again."

"I think this is their sixth argument since we left the Ark." Prowl said.

"Fifth actually." Fixit said. "That one about the humming didn't count since all they did was ex-ex-ex-ex…" SMACK! "Exchange looks."

"What's up with them anyway?" Seaspray asked. "Do they have some kind of history or something?"

"The way I see it, they both attended Autobot training academy." Prowl said. "I suppose they're just competitive."

"What?" Seaspray asked. "I thought Arcee graduated ages before we evacuated Cybertron and Hot Rod was barely fresh out. If they both attended, then how come their departures were far apart?"

"Perhaps he was held back." Fixit said. "Wouldn't surprise me?"

"I heard that!" Hot Rod shouted.

Suddenly, an explosion was heard from the inside of the village. The Autobots looked out and saw a swarm of tanks going through the streets. Their cannons were randomly firing at several places. At their side, there was a familiar symbol.

"That's the Horde!" Arcee shouted. "The kids might be in trouble!"

"Well, I guess subtlety's out the window then." Seaspray said.

"All right then." Arcee said. "Hot Rod, find the kids. Bumblebee, Seaspray, you take on the Horde. Prowl, Fixit, you're with me on evacuating the civilians!"

Immediately, everyone moved out changing into their vehicle modes… except for Fixit who grabbed onto Prowl's motorbike form.

"Maybe Bow had a point about needing room for passengers." Fixit said.

In the middle of the village, Hot Rod moved through the streets. He changed into his robot form and looked around. Suddenly, he heard a familiar cry.

"STOP!"

Hot Rod looked over a hut and saw Adora standing before a squad of tanks. The tanks stopped, and the front tank opened up its top. Catra popped out with an elated face toward her friend.

"Adora!" she cried in joy as she leaped on her. "Found you! They let me drive a tank! Can you believe it?"

"What are you doing here?" Adora asked.

"Finding you." Catra said. "'Cover for me, Catra. No one will even know I'm gone.' Did you just get captured the second you left the Fright Zone?"

"Catra, we need to stop this assault." Adora begged.

"What? Why?" Catra asked.

"This is Thaymore." Adora said. "They're not insurgents like Shadow Weaver said. It's a civilian town. They're innocent people."

"Yeah, innocent people who just kidnapped a Horde officer." Catra said. She grabbed Adora's hand and started to pull her back to the tanks. "Now, let's go home. Shadow Weaver will be really mad. It'd be funny if she wasn't such a terrible person. Oh, that reminds me. Where are those giant robots?"

"You know about…" Adora asked.

"The giant robots that held you hostage?" Catra asked. "Yeah, Shadow Weaver figured it out. She gave us orders to destroy them on site. Kind of a dumb move if you ask me, but I wasn't exactly in a position to argue. So if we see them, they're goners."

"That doesn't sound good." Hot Rod said still hiding and listening. "I hope my friends are doing okay."

"Catra, we can't." Adora said. "They're my friends!"

"Friends?" Catra asked.

"Yeah." Adora said. "They saved my life and helped me realize something… The Horde isn't what we thought it was. Catra, Hordak's not some savior; he's a conqueror. They've been lying to us."

"…Duh! Did you just figure that out?" Catra asked surprising Adora. "Shadow Weaver and Hordak lie all the time. They've been messing with our heads since we were kids."

Adora stared in disbelief as her view on her friend started to change. "How could you possibly be okay with this?"

"Because it doesn't matter what they do." Catra said. "Soon, the world will change and we'll be the ones calling the shots. We're friends, Adora. We stick together."

"Not exactly what I'd call a friend if you ask me." Hot Rod said still hiding.

"I'm sorry, Catra." Adora said removing her hand from Catra's grip. "But I can't go back. Not after all I've seen." It was her turn to wrap her hands around Catra's hand. "Come with me. This life isn't for us. We can make it better."

Catra removed her hand from Adora also in disbelief. Adora turned to walk away, which gave Catra the opportunity to take out her electric weapon and hit Adora with it. Adora fell forward stunned by the weapon while Hot Rod gasped.

"Sorry, Adora," Catra whispered, "But if I don't bring you back, Shadow Weaver will be so upset."

"Oh, you did it now!" he shouted as he jumped over the hut. Catra flinched in surprise when she saw the Autobot heading toward her. Hot Rod jumped in between Catra and Adora readying his weapons.

"Hot Rod, don't." Adora said struggling to get up.

"Kid, she zapped you in the back." Hot Rod said.

"Who… What is that?" Catra asked.

"The better question, fuzzy, is…" He looked up. "What is that?"

Adora, Catra, and Hot Rod looked up and saw an aircraft diving from the sky. Hot Rod grabbed Adora and jumped backwards. Catra leaped to the side and rolled away as the aircraft changed its shape. The very sight of the Decepticon before them surprised Hot Rod.

"Uh, oh!" he gasped.

"Yes, gawk in fear, for Starscream has arrived!"

"Who is that?" Adora asked.

"That's Starscream," Hot Rod explained, "Megatron's right hand bot."

"He's second-in-command?" Adora asked. "What do we do?"

"Well, diplomacy with the Horde didn't work," Hot Rod said, "And now, we've got Starscream. Find someplace to hide, Adora. I'll keep the 'Con busy."

"What?" Adora asked. "But he'll destroy you."

"Maybe, but maybe not." Hot Rod said. "Either way, you can get further away from being the Horde's puppet."

"But…" Adora started to say, but Hot Rod wouldn't listen.

Hot Rod got out of cover and ran toward the smirking Starscream. He was about to fire when something landed on top of him. In less than a second, Hot Rod's head was being trampled by another Decepticon, a skinny one with a computer screen instead of a face.

"Let me introduce you to Soundwave, Lord Megatron's head of communications, and personal overseer for my conquest of this Energon-rich cesspool of a planet." Starscream said.

"Nice to meet you." Hot Rod said struggling. "You know, if I had a face like yours, I'd try to make up for it with some kind of personality." That just made Soundwave grind his foot above his head.

Right beside Starscream, Blitzwing came in with his blue face displayed. Starscream saw him coming and scoffed.

"This is one of the Autobots that's been giving you a hard time earlier?" Starscream asked. "All he knows how to do is run his mouth."

"The Autobots, I could handle." Blitzwing said. "But there was a human girl here who was a lot stronger than she looked. She was ordinary at first, but then she grew a few feet and started to glow."

"A few feet and a glow?" Starscream asked pretending to be scared. "Ooh, scary."

Still on the side of the action, Catra stared in confusion at the Decepticons standing over Hot Rod. She then saw one of her Horde soldiers aiming the cannon of a tank.

"Ready to fire." The soldier said.

"Wait!" Catra shouted making the soldier stop. "Something's not right. Why are these giant robots fighting each other?"

"Who cares?" the soldier asked. "Shadow Weaver's orders are…"

"Shadow Weaver doesn't know everything." Catra said. "Just hold your fire for now."

"Since when are you my commanding officer?"

Catra responded by pressing her claws against the soldier's throat. He was silent as he reluctantly pulled back the cannon. Catra held her claws back and watched.

* * *

In another part of the village, Adora was kneeling with her hands on the ground as Glimmer and Arcee found her.

"Adora!" Glimmer shouted. "What happened?"

"…It's Hot Rod." Adora admitted. "He's in trouble. Some robot called Starscream."

"Starscream? Here?" Arcee asked widening her optics. "That hot-headed idiot! Where?"

"Perhaps you can help, Adora." Glimmer said as she presented the sword. "Take it. We need She-Ra."

"Me?" Adora asked.

"I was wrong to keep it from you." Glimmer said. "I admit it. You could've saved us at the temple, but I was too stupid and stubborn."

"It wasn't your fault." Adora said. "I'm the Horde soldier."

"Well, now you can be better." Arcee said. "Optimus says that freedom is the right of all sentient beings. You are now free to make your own choice, but it needs to be decided now. I'm going to save Hot Rod. You can come with me if you want, but you don't have to. If you leave, I won't hold it against you, but if you take that sword… then you're an Autobot."

Adora took another long look at the sword and glared her eyes. Taking Arcee's words to heart, she took the sword from Glimmer's hands and held it up with her familiar chant.

"FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!"

* * *

"Soundwave, don't miss a moment. I want Megatron to witness my conquest." Starscream said as he aimed his missile-wrist toward the trampled Hot Rod. "Any last words, Autobot?"

Hot Rod struggled, but then, his optics gazed at a sight. "She-Ra."

"What?" Starscream asked. "What kind of last words are 'She-Ra'?"

"Uh, Starscream." Blitzwing said as he looked at what Hot Rod was staring at.

Starscream and Soundwave turned their heads at the sight of a glowing girl approaching them. It was She-Ra. The Horde and Catra stopped when they saw her stopping at the center of the conflict.

"Oh, this is gonna be good." Hot Rod chuckled. "You better turn wing and fly away, Scream or she's going to kick your butt!"

"Her? Seriously?" Starscream laughed mockingly while She-Ra stared at him. "Her and what army?"

She-Ra raised her sword above her head and pointed it down. When Starscream stopped laughing and just stared in silence, She-Ra thrusted it downward and sunk it into the ground. The ground shook suddenly and it cracked apart. Parts of the ground were raised up and all the Decepticons fell backward. Hot Rod quickly raised himself back up.

"Don't you know?" Hot Rod asked. "She's a one-woman army."

"Fire!" a Horde soldier commanded.

A Horde tank aimed its cannon at She-Ra and fired an energy blast. She-Ra jumped and swung her sword redirecting the blast near Starscream's feet making him shriek.

"Retreat!" a Horde soldier commanded as he turned around.

"Fall back!" Starscream shouted to Blitzwing and Soundwave. They disappeared too.

The Autbots regrouped around She-Ra as she turned back to Adora. She was back in her Horde uniform, and out in the distance, she saw Catra staring in complete confusion. Catra took a few steps backward and disappeared in the dust cloud. Adora fell backward on the ground to catch her breath.

"I don't believe it. I turned against the Horde." She then widened her eyes. "I turned against the Horde."

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Bee's right, kid, that was pretty impressive." Seaspray said.

"It's okay, Adora." Glimmer said. "Now, I suppose all that's left is to tell my mom."

"It's gonna be quite a walk back to Bright Moon from here on out." Bow said.

"We'll be right by your side." Arcee said. "The Decepticons are already on route here, and Starscream is a dangerous factor. We're going to need the Autobots here as well."

"Got it." Glimmer said. "But first, I have to tell my mom about… all of this."

"Hey, Adora," Hot Rod said, "I just want to say thanks for the save. And I'm sorry about your friend."

Adora frowned. "Catra's probably just confused. In time, I think I can get to her. But for now, we're just on opposite sides."

"But that won't be the case with you and us." Hot Rod said. "You'll always count on us."

"Thanks." Adora said with a reassured smile.

"Best friends squad!" Bow exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm not calling us that." Seaspray sighed.

* * *

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED!" Starscream shouted in fear. "BEATEN BY AN INFERIOR LIFEFORM! IF MEGEATRON HEARS OF THIS, I'LL…"

"Starscream."

Starscream paused in fear when he recognized the voice on Soundwave's screen. It was a fearsome Decepticon's face with red, burning eyes.

"Lord Megatron." Starscream panicked. "To what do I honor this call?"

"Per your orders, Soundwave has ben transmitting to me your 'conquest'." Megatron said making Starscream look even more worried. "Tell me, Starscream, does your definition of conquest include the humiliation at the hands of a small group of Autobots and an organic girl?"

"Lord Megatron, it's not what you think." Starscream said. "The girl… She just caught us by surprise."

"I overheard the Autobot call her She-Ra." Blitzwing said before changing into his black face. "Sounds like a cringy battle cry. 'Shera'!"

"Not helping, Blitzwing!" Starscream growled. "Lord Megatron, there is a surprisingly amount of Energon on this planet. Somehow, it just protruded from the ground. Rest assured, we will secure this world in your glorious name."

Megatron stared for a moment making Starscream nervous. "Very well. I'll give you one chance. Blitzwing, you are to be moved to another outpost. I will send Knock Out and Strika in your place."

Blitzwing changed to his blue face. "Understood, Lord Megatron."

"As for you, Starscream," Megatron said, "I will allow Soundwave to stay and monitor your progress. Right now, the only things standing between you and this planet are the Autobots and this She-Ra. I will arrive with the Nemesis at my side. Find a way to destroy them before I arrive or I'll make you wish you were offline." The call ended leaving Starscream petrified.

"Well, it was good while it lasted." Blitzwing said. He then changed into his black face. "_Oh, who am I kidding? This whole thing's gone topsy turvy, just like your head when Megatron gets here! TTFN, tata for now!_" He changed into his jet form and rocketed upwards. He disappeared into the sky within seconds before Starscream groaned.

"What am I going to do?" he exclaimed. "Megatron's gonna have my head on a spike!"

"What am I going to do?"

Starscream stopped when he overheard a female voice. He looked through the trees and found the question's origin. It was Catra who was complaining to herself while following the rest of the retreating Horde soldiers.

"Shadow Weaver's gonna have my head on a spike." Catra continued.

Starscream stared and remembered that this army was fighting against She-Ra. He smiled and rubbed his chin.

"Soundwave, we may be finished with this planet before too long yet."

* * *

**Author's Note: **_This latest season of She-Ra was insane and full of inspiration. I can't wait to get to it. Hope you like this latest addition to the story. Any and all comments are welcome._


	3. Razz

"Here we are." Bow exclaimed at the end of their trek.

"Welcome to Bright Moon." Glimmer said.

Adora and the Autobots stopped to appreciate the sight of the rebel home base. A big, golden castle stood at the center of a tropical landscape and a village. Near the center of the castle stood a large tower with a glowing stone floating on top.

"It's beautiful." Adora said.

"I don't know why," Arcee said, "But this reminds me of Iacon."

"What's Iacon?" Bow asked.

"The capital city of Cybertron." Prowl explained.

"Well, all I have to do is go in, recharge my powers, and then talk to my mom." Glimmer said nervously.

"What's up with her?" Seaspray asked.

"Yeah, Glimmer's mom didn't exactly give us permission to retrieve the sword from the Whispering Woods and I don't think she'll be happy now." Bow said.

"Don't worry." Glimmer said. "Once we show her the sword, She-Ra, and the Autobots, she'll change her mind no sweat. Oh, Bow, how about you take Adora in the back way while I talk to my mom?"

"What's the back way?" Adora asked.

* * *

"That's the back way?" Adora asked looking up a large cliff behind the castle.

"I know it seems dangerous, but it's really not." Bow said. "Glimmer and I used to sneak in this way all the time. The only problem is…" He turned to the Autobots. "I don't think there's enough space in her room for you guys."

"Don't worry about it." Arcee said. "We'll just wait out here until you guys say you're ready for us."

Adora sighed. "This is going to be a long day."

* * *

Starscream waited at the edge of the Fright Zone with Soundwave by his side. He crossed his arms and tapped his right foot impatiently. Suddenly, a new Decepticon approached. It was a bulky female 'Con with dark-purple coat and a dark-green clamp placed over the bottom half of her red face.

"Ah, Strika." Starscream greeted. "Took you long enough."

"Apologies, Commander Starscream." Strika said with a Russian accent. "I was merely taking care of an Autobot scouting team when I got my orders to come here. Let me tell you, they break apart really good."

Starscream rolled his optics. "Yes, that's right. You love smashing Autobots. Well, you may have that chance here on this planet. At least until Lord Megatron gets here."

"Great. And when will that be?"

"Megatron said he'll be arriving on the Nemesis." Starscream said. While he was explaining, Soundwave displayed a galactic map on his visor. On the map, there was a line of dashes connecting the Nemesis and Etheria. "According to Soundwave's calculations, the Nemesis will be here in a few weeks, a month at most. And he gives us that time to find a way to destroy the Autobots."

"Then it's simple." Strika said. "Let's get to where they've taken refuge and crush them there along with their conspirators."

"If only it were that simple. You see, the Autobots have headed to a place called Bright Moon. It's hidden in a forest that appears to be impossible to navigate, and flying above it doesn't seem to help. So we'll have to search for alternative means. Luckily, I may have found it." He pointed at the ominous urban landscape of dark machinery. "That place is called the Fright Zone. Apparently, it's the home of a certain faction called the Horde. They seem to be the enemy of the Autobots' allies. If we can form an alliance with them, then we could overpower our enemies immensely."

"Would Megatron approve of us working with a lesser species?" Strika asked.

"I think the results would earn his favor." Starscream said. "Remember, this is war. We need every advantage we can hold. Now, where is Knock Out? Megatron said he'd be sending him as well."

"He's testing the terrain of this planet." Strika said. "He said he needs to see how the ground here feels around his 'rugged tires'. You know how he is."

Starscream groaned. "Well, the sooner he gets here, the sooner we can move on with the plan."

* * *

Hot Rod laid on his back closing his optics and blissfully enjoying the sun shining on his face. Suddenly, he heard footsteps heading toward him. He stood back up to see Adora approaching him with the sword in her hand.

"Adora, what are you doing here?" Hot Rod asked. "I thought you were waiting to meet the queen."

"I thought I could practice using my sword out here." Adora said. "There's barely any room up in Glimmer's room. Hey, Rod, where are the other Autobots?"

"Arcee suddenly remembered they needed to check back to our ship and try to get it out of that crazy forest. She told me to wait here as a beacon for them to find us. Waste of a good me, if I'm not mistaken."

"What's your deal with Arcee anyway?" Adora asked. "It seems like there's some kind of tension between you."

"It's a long story." Hot Rod said. "Look, shouldn't you be playing with your sword right now?"

"I wouldn't say it like that, but okay." Adora said. She then pointed the sword to the sky. "FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!" …Nothing. Not even flicker of light escaped from its blade. Adora tried again. "FOR THE HONOR OF GRAYSKULL!" Still nothing.

Adora tried again many times with many different tones and volumes while Hot Rod watched. Sometimes, Adora wouldn't even try her hardest.

"Hey, I think I saw a spark that time." Hot Rod chuckled.

"Come on." Adora said. "You know what's supposed to happen. So how come I'm not She-Ra?"

"Do I look like a She-Ra expert to you?" Hot Rod asked. "Just try one more time. I promise not to make fun."

Adora sighed and held the sword up again. "For the honor of Grayskull!"

Suddenly, a beam of light escaped from its blade. Adora was so stunned, she fell over and the beam was redirected… straight to Hot Rod. He was so surprised, he didn't have time to react before it hit him.

Suddenly, in Hot Rod's eyes, the entire scenery changed. What was once a green landscape of trees and grass suddenly became a white void of nothingness. And at the center of that void stood a large Cybertronian that Hot Rod couldn't get a good look at. When the void ended, Hot Rod stumbled back and tripped over the hill.

"Hot Rod!" Adora panicked as she followed. But on the way down, the curtain that covered her uniform caught a branch and got ripped off.

When Hot Rod landed, he found himself surrounded by a bunch of unexpecting citizens of Bright Moon. They stared in surprise and fear when they saw a giant robot before them next to a girl in a Horde uniform. They screamed and quickly grabbed their torches and pitchforks.

"Uh… we come in peace?" Hot Rod commented.

"Run!" Adora shouted as she bolted straight toward the forest.

"Adora, wait!" Hot Rod shouted as he followed.

Once the two of them were deep enough in the forest, they stopped running. They were now surrounded by trees, bushes, and Energon crystals.

"What happened, Adora?" Hot Rod asked.

"'What happened'?" Adora repeated. "Rod, that crowd became an angry mob. How else would I react?"

"You could have just stayed behind me. Those things couldn't do a thing to me."

"Well, our first impression is already ruined." Adora said as she pulled ot her sword. "This thing is a lot of trouble."

"We've been on this planet in just one day," Hot Rod said, "And already, we've been chased by three Decepticons, nearly crushed by a collapsing temple, and now, we've got chased out by the people we're supposed to protect. What's next?"

"A hut?" Adora asked looking over the bushes.

"How is a hut a bad thing?" Hot Rod asked.

"No, look." Adora pointed.

A strange hut stood in the middle of the clearing. At the front was a short, purple, old woman sweeping her porch. Suddenly, she looked around with a suspicious look through her glasses.

"Did you hear that?" the old woman asked before pausing for a second. "Yes, I did too. Who's there?"

Carefully, Adora and Hot Rod approached the woman with their hands up.

"We don't want to hurt you." Hot Rod said.

"Yeah, we're just a little lost." Adora added.

The old woman squinted. Then, her face glowed in joy before going to hug the both of them. "Oh, Mara, Zetty, it is you. Come to see Madame Razz again?"

"What?" Adora asked.

"Oh, Mara, don't kid Madame Razz. You're just in time to pick berries."

"I take it you don't know this woman?" Hot Rod asked.

"I think I'd remember." Adora said.

The woman called Razz squinted again. "Oh, you're not the same Mara, are you? And yet, you have your own Zetty…" She gestured her hand at Hot Rod. "And you have the sword too."

"Wait, you know about the sword?" Adora asked.

"Come." Razz said grabbing a basket. "We pick berries now." She proceeded to walk into the woods. Adora and Hot Rod followed her.

"So we're going to just follow strange old ladies in the middle of the forest now, Adora?" Hot Rod asked.

"She said something about the sword." Adora said. "Maybe she knows something I should."

"She also called me Zetty." Hot Rod said. "I don't know what that means. I think she's spent too long in these woods all alone."

"Ah, Zetty." Razz said. "I am not alone. I have Broom, and my friend Loo-Kee too, but he's very shy."

"I stand corrected." Hot Rod said. "Make that all alone with nothing but a broom and imaginary friends."

He was then speechless when Razz came across a large, metal structure erecting from the ground. There were also some shards of Energon puncturing the outside.

"You were saying?" Adora asked.

"It's just like that First Ones place we've been to before." Hot Rod said.

"It's the best place to pick berries." Razz said. When she plucked a few berries, the temple started to glow. Suddenly, a holographic image appeared in the sky revealing stars all over the sky.

"Stars." Hot Rod said. "I thought there were no stars within sight in this solar system."

"Oh, we used to stare at the stars all the time." Mara said. "Remember Mara, Zetty? Where'd the stars go?"

"I... I've seen these before." Adora said. "Madame Razz, what's going on?"

"That's all the berries for now." Razz said. "Let's get moving." She then proceeded further into the forest.

"Wait!" Hot Rod shouted following Razz. "Do you know anything about the sword or She-Ra or not?"

"What?" Razz asked. "Sorry, I can't hear you. I don't have my glasses."

Hot Rod paused for a moment. "But you do have… You don't need… Ugh, I give up." He pinched the middle of his optics.

"Look," Adora said, "I left my whole life behind looking for answers about where I came from and who I'm supposed to be. The Rebellion hates me and I can't go back to the Horde. And I wanna do the right thing, but I don't know what that is."

The trio stopped when they stood on top of a short cliff. Before them was a sight they wish they hadn't seen. All around was a land that was once flourishing in nature, but now a gray wasteland. The only lively parts there were the Energon crystal clusters that poked out nearly fifty feet from each other. There were also some abandoned Horde tanks scattered across, some of which were pierced by large crystals.

"Same old story." Razz explained. "Wicked people destroy what they cannot control. Once, the princess alliance would fight against them. But these days, they stay in their castles protecting their own kingdoms. Meanwhile, the Horde becomes stronger every day."

"But… it's not right." Adora said.

"They're scared." Hot Rod said. "It's easy to understand. But things have to change. I guess that's why you found that sword and my team landed here on Etheria."

"You know, the two of you are just like my Mara and Zetty." Razz. "Kind, strong, and afraid."

"I'm not afraid." Adora said.

"Neither am I." Hot Rod said.

"Dears, you ran into the woods and asked the first old lady you could find what you should do." Razz pointed out.

"...Okay, you got us there." Hot Rod said. "It's just... this is all new for me. I've never seen action like this before. I don't know what to do in this situation."

"No one is going to make this easy for you." Razz said. "Stop waiting for someone to tell you what the right thing to do is. You're both smart. What do you think?"

"I think... this is wrong." Adora said. "Hot Rod, we need to go back to Bright Moon."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Hot Rod said.

Adora turned back to Razz. "Will we see you again?"

"When you need me, you'll know where to find me." Razz answered. When she turned away to walk, she quietly asked herself, "Who was that girl and her red elephant?"

Suddenly, the wind started to blow. Hot Rod and Adora looked up to see why. The Autobot ship that Hot Rod and his team came here on hovered above their heads. It landed in front of them and Arcee walked out.

"What are you doing here?" Arcee asked.

"Uh… sightseeing?" Adora asked.

"Why aren't you on Bright Moon?" Arcee asked.

"Okay, but whatever you do, don't flip out." Hot Rod said.

"I only promise to try." Arcee said.

* * *

"Of all the reckless, impulsive things you've done, Glimmer…" Queen Angella broke out. "First, I hear of a Horde soldier that you brought into Bright Moon. And now, I hear that that soldier is accompanied by… What did you call it?"

"A giant robot, your highness." A guard answered.

"Mom, listen, this is all a big misunderstanding." Glimmer defended.

"It's not Glimmer's fault, ma'am." Bow said.

"Bow, go on home." Angella said. "I need to have a discussion with…"

The queen stopped when everyone starting looking upwards behind her. She turned to see the spaceship lowering from the sky. The hanger door opened revealing She-Ra who jumped out. Behind her, the Autobots jumped and landed in the center of the throne room. Most of the people were scared and confused, but not Bow and Glimmer for they knew who stood before them.

"Mom," Glimmer said, "These are the Autobots. And the girl is…"

"She-Ra." Angella gasped silently.

"Your majesty," Arcee said, "I apologize for the disruption caused earlier. It is not our intention to wage war with you; but rather, to assist you in yours. The crystals that grew from your ground has summoned us to your planet, but they have also gained the attention of another army with ill intentions: the Decepticons. We would request to aide you against both the Horde and the Decepticons if you will have us."

"And you will have me too." She-Ra said. "But first, there's something you need to know." She dimmed her glow and her outfit changed. Adora was back in her Horde uniform much to everyone's surprise.

"She-Ra exists, and she's a Horde soldier?" Angella asked.

"Your majesty, I was a Horde soldier." Adora explained. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I have seen for myself the atrocities the Horde has committed to the people of Etheria. I'm ready to fight them as well. If you give me the chance, I know I can help the Rebellion turn the tide of the war." She bowed presenting the sword.

Angella thought for a moment while examining the weapon Adora showed her. "I know the legend of the warrior the First Ones called She-Ra. They said that she would return to us when we most need her and bring balance to the world. I thought they were mere myth, but you stand before me now. And aside a group of giant robots from off world."

"Yeah, this is pretty new to us too." Seaspray said.

"But not to worry, ma'am." Fixit said. "We just contacted Optimus Prime, our leader. He should be here with reinforcements in a few tweaks… leeks… weeks."

"Glimmer, would you vouch for them all, She-Ra and the Autobots alike, and take responsibility for them?" Angella asked.

"Yes, mother." Glimmer said proudly.

"Very well." Angella said returning the sword. "Then rise, She-Ra, Princess of Power, and welcome to Etheria, Autobots!"

The people of Bright Moon cheered as Glimmer and Bow hugged their friends.

"Welcome to Bright Moon." Glimmer said.

"For real, this time." Bow added.

"Thanks." Adora said.

"Well, this should be an interesting experience." Hot Rod said.

* * *

At the Fright Zone, the cadets—Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio—exchanged uniforms in the locker room. Imagine their surprise to see Catra standing smugly before them with a force captain badge pinned to her outfit.

"No way!" Lonnie shouted. "They made you Force Captain?"

"Congrats, Catra." Kyle said.

"Thanks." Catra said. "Lord Hordak knows a good thing when he sees one. Maybe next time, Shadow Weaver will think twice before…" She noticed how nervous and scared the three cadets were. "She's right behind me, isn't she?"

"We need to talk, Catra, about…"

Shadow Weaver was about to finish her sentence, when a few metal clanks were heard from the outside of the compound. They sounded like giant knocks. Immediately, everyone left the locker room and headed outside. Shadow Weaver, Catra, the cadets, and a few nameless soldiers were frozen with shock at the sight of the four giant figures standing before them. One was a red Decepticon called Knock Out, another was Soundwave, the third was Strika, and the last was Starscream smugly.

"Greetings, beings of Etheria." Starscream said enthusiastically, "My name is Starscream, first lieutenant of the Decepticons. I have come to offer… an alliance."

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Happy new year, everyone. Here's for 2020 to be full of good stories from me and all the other fanfic writers out there. As for this chapter, sorry it was short. I would've included the action scenes, but I was in a hurry. I wanted to get this done by the new year. But all in all, I think it was pretty good. With the alliance between Bright Moon and the Autobots finally being official and the Decepticons making contact with the Horde, anything can happen. Any and all comments are welcome._


	4. Flowers for Prowl

_Back when Cybertron was still thriving during the height of the war, there were plenty of Cybertronians who were drafted into the Autobot rebellion. Many were proud to fight the good fight. However, there was one who didn't want to fight: the young Prowl. That was why he was dragged into the monastery of the elderly cyber-ninja called Yoketron. Prowl was examined by the elder while his captor, Warpath, carried him on his shoulder._

_ "__Take a holo-scan." Prowl said. "It'll last longer."_

_ "__Can it, deserter!" Warpath demanded._

_ "__Set him down, Warpath." Yoketron said. The big Autobot did as he was told._

_ "__If you ask me, we should throw him in the stockade." Warpath said. "A Bot who refuses to fight a Con is a Con himself."_

_ "__I will be the judge of that." Yoketron said. "You are dismissed." Warpath huffed and walked out leaving the elderly ninja to remove Prowl's stasis cuffs. "Tell me, Prowl, why do you not wish to fight?"_

_ "__It's not that I don't want to." Prowl said. "There's just nothing I can do. I can't contribute in any way. I'm not big. I've never held a firearm. I don't even have more than two wheels. All I have is my clocking mechanism, and that's not worth a lot in the field. It's best that I leave the war to the bigger Bots."_

_ "__If you see your limits only as weakness, then you will never grow." Yoketron said. "But if you study under me, then your limits could become your strength."_

_ "__And old rustbucket like you teach me anything?" Prowl mocked. "Hard pass."_

_Yoketron chuckled. "Then I will make you a deal. If you can escape out the door before I stop you, you are free to go and all charges will be dropped."_

_ "__See ya!" Prowl quickly changed into into his motorcycle form and charged straight for the open door. But before he could cross it, Yoketron jumped in front of him and delivered a swift kick that sent Prowl across the room._

_ "__How'd you do that?" Prowl asked._

_ "__Let me teach you, and I will help you see your true potential." Yoketron answered holding out his hand._

* * *

The memory ended when Prowl opened his eyes. He gazed around at the outdoor garden he had chosen to meditate in. He was then approached by Arcee.

"Heads up, Prowl." Arcee said. "The queen's arranged a war meeting in the morning. The entire team's going to attend."

"Understood."

* * *

"What…" Shadow Weaver was nearly at a loss for words when she, Catra, and a few of the cadets were staring at the Decepticons before them. "What are you?"

"We are called the Decepticons. We are a proud, strong army from the planet Cybertron. I am First Lieutenant Starscream. This is Strika and Knock Out."

"Aliens?" Catra asked. "You guys are aliens?"

"Mind your tongue, Catra." Shadow Weaver said. She turned back to the Decepticons. "What do you want? Why are you here?"

"Back on Cybertron, the Decepticons faced a rebellion much like you are facing. They are called the Autobots. Our war went on for centuries until Cybertron's destruction. Our home planet has been destroyed. So we were forced to search the cosmos for Energon, the lifeblood of our race. And guess what. Your planet seems to have an unbelievable abundance. Or haven't you noticed anything strange change around your landscape?"

"You mean the crystals?" Shadow Weaver asked. "Those are what brought you here?"

"Yes." Starscream said. "Sadly, the Autobots have noticed the Energon as well and have joined forces with the rebels on this planet. So here is my proposal: we join forces. With Decepticon reinforcements on the way along with the advantage over the rebels you currently have, we will have the power to crush all of our enemies; princess and Autobot alike."

"This plan is… intriguing." Shadow Weaver said. "Unfortunately, the final decision isn't up to me. It goes to our leader, Lord Hordak. If you give me some time, I will forward your proposal to him and await his decision. Though I fear it may be a while."

"I understand." Starscream said. "We will await outside the Fright Zone for your answer. Knock Out. Strika, let's go."

"Seriously?" Knockout asked. "You do realize she's just…"

"Shut up. He's doing a thing." Strika whispered.

The Decepticons turned around and changed into their vehicle modes. Once they have driven or flown away, Catra gave a mischievous look.

"Well, that's interesting." Catra said. "So how do you plan to tell Hordak?"

"I'm not." Shadow Weaver replied catching everyone by surprise.

"What?" Catra asked.

"I'm not going to tell Hordak about the Decepticons and neither will any of you."

"But why?" Catra asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

"I do not trust them." Shadow Weaver said. "They are called Decepticons. How can we say for sure if their intentions will benefit us in the end?"

"Does it matter?" Catra asked. "That Starscream guy wasn't lying about the Autobots. I've seem him fighting more robots on Thaymore. If the Autobots really have joined forces with the rebellion, shouldn't we have the same advantage?"

"Watch your tone, Catra." Shadow Weaver asked. "You are really on thin ice for losing Adora." She turned to the rest of the cadets. "If any one of you breathes even a single word of this, then I'll send you to Beast Island myself! Am I clear? …Catra?"

Catra wanted to growl, but she held herself back knowing what her guarding would do if she did. She fought the urge to extend her claws and calmed down. "Crystal."

"Good." Shadow Weaver said as she turned away. Everyone started to head back inside, but Catra took one last look at the direction where the Decepticons left.

* * *

The rebellion war meeting was large, but there were many empty seats. Bow and Glimmer sat in their respective chairs while two other princesses, Netossa and Spinerella, sat across from them. Adora accidently sat in the late king's chair and was quickly exchanged to another. When the Autobots joined in by sitting beside the table. Queen Angella started the meeting.

"I called this meeting to discuss the kingdom of Plumeria. The Horde has established a blockade and Princess Perfuma is requesting aide."

"I guess this Perfuma needs someone to go and blow up this blockade." Seaspray said.

"No." Angella said. "We will simply be sending food and medical supplies to them."

"What if we…"

"No, Glimmer. We won't attack the Horde. You propose this idea every meeting."

"I wasn't going to say that." Glimmer said with a slight chuckle. "I was going to suggest… aggressive fist-to-face sparkles."

"Now, you're speaking my language… a bit." Seaspray said.

"I said no, Glimmer."

"Touchy subject." Hot Rod said. "What's so special about this kingdom anyway?"

"Plumeria is a peaceful land with a deep love for nature." Angella said.

"I've heard the princess has the magical ability to control plants." Bow added.

"Really?" Prowl asked.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Seaspray said. "Prowl's a tree-hugger."

"Nature is a fascinating subject for the open-minded." Prowl said.

"Your majesty, if you don't mind," Adora said, "Let me, Bow, Glimmer, and the Autobots go on the relief mission. You can send me as She-Ra and we can deal with the Horde in case they attack us. I won't disappoint you."

"…Very well." Angella said. "But under no circumstances are you to engage the Horde."

"Well, that's no fun." Seaspray said. "You can count me out. I'm a breaker, not a fixer."

"If it's all right with you, I'd like to stay on Bright Moon too." Fixit said. "I don't exactly see a use for my skill beaver… Er, either."

"If you wish." Angella said. "Arcee, you are the commanding officer of this Autobot unit?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"Then can I trust you to look after my daughter?"

"Mom!"

"If I'm sending you out on the field, then you at least need someone to watch over you."

"If you wish, your highness." Arcee said. "Just one question: what does the princess say about the Energon? Surely, some crystals have emerged in Plumeria."

"I asked." Angella said. "She told me that there have been plenty of them that exploded from the ground suddenly and she has no idea how to deal with them."

"Then we'll also be on an Energon excursion mission." Arcee said.

* * *

_Yoketron was expecting to see Prowl doing his daily chores in the temple. Strangely, there wasn't any sight of him. The old master walked across. But the trash can he passed turned out to be Prowl using his hologram projector. He removed the disguise and sneaked behind Yoketron hoping to catch him by surprise. The judo throw that countered his sneak attack proved it didn't._

_ "__How?" Prowl asked. "I thought it was flawless."_

_ "__You rely on your technology too much. Remember, it's not the gear that makes the ninja strong; it's the ninja himself." Yoketron clutched Prowl's equipment on his shoulders and removed them._

_ "__Wait! My hologram projectors! I told you, they're all I have! Without them, I am nothing!"_

_ "__And nothing is where we will start you off with."_

* * *

Aside from the Energon crystals spiking from the ground, Plumeria was as beautiful as it could be. The people that lived their decorated their clothes with flowers. No. It'd be more accurate to say that their clothes are made of flowers. The Autobots were baffled and paused at the sight of it.

"It's magnificent." Prowl commented.

"Yeah, if you like an actual bed made of flowers." Hot Rod said.

Angella noticed something. She knelt down and picked up a flower to observe. The flower was very sick.

"My mom didn't say anything about the plants dying."

"I don't think she even knows." Bow said.

Behind them, Adora walked up as She-Ra. She used both of her giant arms to lift up an entire wagon full of essentials.

"Are you going to be She-Ra the whole time we're here?" Arcee asked.

"I promised Queen Angella I would. Besides, could Adora do this?" With one arm, Adora lowered and lifted the wagon like a dumbbell.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Exactly. Get over yourself, Adora." Hot Rod said. "To us, it's not that impressive." With one hand, he removed the wagon from Adora's arms and placed it gently on the ground.

"Killjoy." Adora muttered.

Glimmer and Arcee exited the woods to approach the bewildered citizens of Plumeria. And at the front of the Plumerians was the princess herself.

"Princess Perfuma, I am Glimmer from Bright Moon."

"Commander Arcee of the Autobots."

"Welcome to Plumeria." Princess Perfuma said. Then, she looked in the back of the party and stared in marvel at She-Ra. In cheer, she ran past the rebels and Bots and approached Adora. "It's her! The She-Ra is here to save us!"

The crowd cheered and surrounded the hero in the golden tiara.

"Well, someone's popular." Hot Rod said.

"Perhaps She-Ra is a local legend here." Prowl said.

Bumblebee buzzed while pointing into the distance. There was a cloud of smoke coming from the other side of the forest.

"That must be coming from the Horde camp." Hot Rod said. "I'm just saying we can drive in, break their base apart, and be back in no time."

"And I'm saying no." Arcee said. "The queen told us not to engage the Horde."

"Killjoy." Hot Rod muttered.

Perfuma brought the rebels and Autobots across her kingdom giving them the tour. Eventually, the tour led them to a gigantic tree with a big jewel at the trunk.

"This is the Heart Blossom, the center of our kingdom, and the source of my power." Perfuma described.

"At least this tree is still intact." Glimmer said.

"Barely." Bow added.

"If you don't mind me asking, your majesty," She-Ra said, "What's happening here?"

"The blight hit us soon after the Horde made base. Every day, more plants are dying and nothing I do stops it. But we don't dwell on the negative. The universe will right itself soon. Now that the She-Ra's here, everything will be better."

"Lady, it's obvious the Horde is doing something from their base." Hot Rod said. "If you're, like, right next door, why don't you just fight back?"

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do." Perfuma said. "All I can do is make plants grow. I can't do anything to them with just that. Besides, the universe has sent us the She-Ra, and she'll save us just like the stories say."

"Stories?" Adora asked.

"Yes. Like the time the She-Ra conquered the beasts of Beast Island."

"She didn't do that." Hot Rod said to his fellow Autobots. "Adora's only had that sword for a couple of days."

"They must have been talking about another She-Ra." Arcee said. "Adora can't have been the first one with that sword."

"Could that be this Mara Razz was talking about?" Hot Rod asked to himself.

"Uh, guys." Adora said to the other Autobots. "We need to talk in private." The Autobots and rebels walked back into the forest. "I don't know what I'm doing. They think I can just heal the tree."

"What? Why?" Hot Rod asked.

"Apparently, it's because another She-Ra could do that." Adora said. "But I don't know how to do that."

"Why don't you just give it a try?" Prowl said. "Sometimes, seeing your true potential requires concentration. Mental discipline."

Adora took a deep breath and jerked her arm forward. A blast of light escaped from her hand and went right through a tree.

"You punched a tree." Bow said. "That's kinda the opposite of helping."

"Perhaps you need more discipline." Prowl said.

"Trust me, if there's something Shadow Weaver always gave, it was discipline." Adora said. She tried again and again, but every time, it went failure.

"Look, she's not going to figure this out right at this moment." Hot Rod said. "I say we just destroy that Horde base. Seems a lot easier."

"For the last time, no." Arcee said.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"A scouting mission?" Arcee repeated. "Well, it wouldn't count as engaging."

"Fine." Hot Rod said. "Me and Bee will drive on over to get a good look at the base. You happy?"

"Do I look happy?" Prowl asked.

"Honestly, I can never tell with you." Hot Rod said.

Hot Rod and Bumblebee changed into their vehicle modes and drove into the direction of the smoke. At that moment, Perfuma ran out in a panic from the other direction.

"She-Ra!" she shouted. "We need your help!"

The rebels and Autobots followed Perfuma back to the tree. Dimly green veins were found creeping across it and the light in the Heart Blossom began to fade.

"The blight." Prowl said in fear. "It's infected the tree."

"We're running out of time, She-Ra." Perfuma said leading her hero to the base of the tree. "You need to heal it now."

Adora hadn't been this nervous before. She had no idea how to heal it, but the citizens of Plumeria were counting on her. She placed her hand on the tree and concentrated her hardest.

Though Adora tried her best, it wasn't enough. Soon enough, she exhausted herself out of her revered form and returned to her usual attire shocking the Plumerians who witnessed. They started asking who she was and what happened to She-Ra. Adora knew she couldn't hide it any longer.

"My name is Adora." She confessed. "I'm She-Ra, but I'm not the one you've heard of. I only recently gained the sword and I can't do everything any She-Ra in the past has done. I'm sorry, but I can't heal your land."

"You… can't save us?" Perfuma asked heartbroken.

"That doesn't mean we can just give up." Hot Rod and Bumblebee returned changing from their car forms to their robot forms.

"Hot Rod. Bumblebee You're back." Arcee said.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Poison?" Arcee translated.

"Yeah, the Horde dumping a lot of that into the ground." Hot Rod explained. "That's what's causing the blight. And in a matter of hours, there won't be a plant kingdom to protect."

"Then all is lost." Perfuma said.

"No, it's not." Glimmer said. "The Horde is hurting your land. You've still got a chance to take it back."

"But if the She-Ra can't stop it, no one can." Perfuma said. "If you'll excuse us, we're packing." All the Plumerians turned around and walked away.

"I can't believe this." Adora said. "I thought as She-Ra, I could do anything. But it turns out I'm still not perfect."

"Don't worry about it, Adora." Glimmer said.. "We don't like you because you're She-Ra. We like you because you're our friend."

"Arcee, I know you're against this idea, but if we are to protect Plumeria, we need to storm that Horde base and stop their poison." Hot Rod suggested.

"…You're right." Arcee said. "These people won't do it themselves, so as Autobots, we have to help with everything."

"You all go on ahead." Prowl said. "I'm gonna have a word with the princess."

"I forgot you could talk." Hot Rod said.

* * *

_Prowl's training was going very well. He came very far since he started training years before. Now, he could spar with Yoketron blindfolded. The master was proud of that._

_ "__You've come far on your journey, Prowl."_

_ "__Thank you, master. I'm much more confident in myself."_

_ "__Now, I believe you are ready for the true secret of this temple."_

_Yoketron walked with his student down the hallway passing a cleaning bot. When they approached a wall, Yoketron hummed with his eyes closed. Suddenly, the wall opened revealing a massive room filled with life-sized capsules._

_ "__How did you do that?" Prowl asked._

_ "__Processor over matter." Yoketron explained. "An advanced technique that you may master one day. Now, do you know what's in these capsules?"_

_Prowl took a good look into one of them and widened his eyes. "Protoforms."_

_ "__Yes. Every one of these capsules is a primordial base form of any Cybertronian. Zeta Prime tasked this place with hiding these as a last resort plan. If all else fails, we will birth these Protoforms in a massive assault on Kaon. I fear that only a few will survive. It is our duty to look after these protoforms until the day we may need them."_

_ "__Why are you showing me this?" Prowl asked._

_ "__If you ever find yourself lost in the darkness, always look back at this and remember that there will always be light in the most pitch-black darkness. I want you to take this to spark when you go off on a spiritual journey I'm sending you to."_

_ "__Very well, master. I will not fail you."_

* * *

The Plumerians couldn't stop thinking about how hopeless it looked. Princess Perfuma looked down at her heartbroken subjects. When she turned around, she saw Prowl standing behind her.

"Oh, it's you." Perfuma said. "Prowl, right? I'm sorry about what happened, and I'm sorry we wasted your time."

"Asking for help is not a waste." Prowl said. "What's truly wasteful is that you were waiting for a miracle instead of making it yourself."

"What do you mean?" Perfuma asked.

"My friends are heading to the Horde base right now to save your kingdom. Because of the unstable Energon crystals all over it, they can't afford to use their blasters. They could use your help."

"I already told you, there's nothing we can do."

"If you see your limits only as weakness, then you will never grow." Prowl remembered when his old master gave him that same advice. "You say you can only make plants grow, but you're only seeing it one way. I see roots sprouting from the ground. I see vines tangling around the enemy. Not to mention, you can disorient the enemy my making flowers appear in the air. Your talents can be used for any number of ways against the Horde."

"But the She-Ra…"

"Won't always be able to help. Adora may be powerful, but she is inexperienced, and healing a whole kingdom sounds advanced. But you were able to survive so long before. It may seem hopeless now, but trust me when I say that there will always be light in the most pitch-black darkness."

"You really have that much faith in us?" Perfuma asked.

"It's the best thing we have."

Perfuma thought for a moment, and then smiled.

* * *

The Autobots stood outside of the Horde base until the alarms went off. That was their cue to intervene. They crashed into the base and met up with Adora, Bow, and Glimmer. It would be easy to blast them, but the Energon crystals limited their options. One misfire and they could all be blown away.

In a matter of seconds, the Autobots and rebels were surrounded by Horde soldiers with rifles.

"How many do you think we can beat?" Hot Rod asked.

"How many of our human friends do you think we can lose?" Arcee asked.

"Good point."

Suddenly, the base started to shake. A growing sound was heard approaching the front gate. Suddenly, large vines sprouted out and struck the Horde soldiers. Much to the Autobots' surprise, the Plumerians charged with spears and hatchets that were freshly made. On top of the growing vines, Princess Perfuma rode leading the attack.

"I always said the universe would pay the Horde back for their evil, and I guess that day is today!" she declared.

Prowl was the last to enter jumping over the Plumerians and landing beside his friends.

"How did you do that?" Arcee asked. "How did you convince them to help?"

"The same way I was convinced." Prowl said. "Now, let's end this."

The fight continued. During the chaos, Adora took the time to draw out her sword and change into She-Ra. She broke into the poison chamber and destroyed the machine. Suddenly, a light shot though the underground roots and to Plumeria. The Heart Blossom glowed along with the Energon surrounding it.

Feeling her jewel being revived, Perfuma used the full force of her magic against the Horde until they retreated leaving everyone to celebrate.

"Thank you all." Perfuma said. "You inspired us to help ourselves. And thank you, Prowl. You believed in us even when we didn't believe in ourselves. How can we ever thank you?"

"Well, you could mine the Energon crystals and ship them to Bright Moon." Arcee said.

"You could also help reassemble the Princess Alliance." Glimmer added.

"Didn't that not work so well before?" Perfuma asked.

"It didn't work for our parents. We're clearly stronger together. We have a chance to make things right. Besides, we've got the Autobots on our side. That definitely helps the odds."

"…Will I get to hit more people with flowers?"

"I don't see why not." Hot Rod said.

"Then count us in. Oh, but on one condition."

"And what's that?" She-Ra asked.

* * *

_It was a long journey for Prowl, but it ended after he sensed something dreadful. He followed it back to Yoketron's temple and found the place nearly destroyed. He traveled through the torn hallways until he found the hidden chamber door opened. When he investigated further, he discovered a horrible sight. His own master was on his back with his dimly-lit spark showing. All around him, the chambers that once held the Protoforms were destroyed._

_ "__Master Yoketron!" Prowl panicked tending to his teacher. "What happened?"_

_ "__A… Decepticon." Yoketron groaned. "He… isn't what he seems. He infiltrated my staff and waited for me to open the chamber. That's when he struck."_

_ "__I can still save you." Prowl said. "Maybe there's still one Protoform left. I can transfer your spark and…"_

_ "__No." Yoketron interrupted. "One last lesson… The past is past. If it must be sacrificed for a better future, it's for the best."_

_ "__But I can't let you die."_

_ "__I will always live though you, Prowl. Listen, at the bottom of the chamber, there's one Protoform that the intruder missed. A small one that's grown its own spark. It can't be used for this war."_

_ "__So what must I do?" Prowl asked._

_ "__Send it away. Launch it into the depths of space, far from our war. Hopefully, it can live better lives than we are."_

_ "__You really have faith in that?"_

_ "__It's the best thing we have." He closed his eyes as the light within him faded. Yoketron was dead, killed by an unknown Decepticon, but not before giving Prowl one last task before joining the Autobots._

* * *

"Prowl's doing what?" Seaspray asked.

"He's staying on Plumeria." Adora said settling into her new rock-hard bed. "It was Princess Perfuma's request."

"She said Prowl can help them train to be better assets for the rebellion." Arcee said. "And honestly, with the Decepticons' arrival lately, they could use some Autobot protecton."

"Which inspired my idea." Glimmer added. "We can send in Autobots to help protect kingdoms. It works better since we have more on the way. It'll be like, uh… an Autobot protection program."

"Well, now that I think about it, Prowl would feel right at home at that flower kingdom." Hot Rod said. "The problem is, it's going to be hard to find a suitable place for Arcee unless you know of a place full of boring textbooks."

"I heard that." Arcee said. "And for your information, the queen's trusted me to help look after her daughter."

"And I did blast you with my sword the other day," Adora said, "So I guess you're stuck with me."

"I've already some ideas for Seaspray and Fixit." Bow said. "That leaves me by default with Bumblebee."

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Oh, I'm sure it goes deeper than that, Bee." Fixit said.

"Again, thanks for sticking with me guys." Adora said. "I may not be perfect, but I guess that's okay."

Glimmer picked up a pillow and whacked Adora in the face with it. "Of course, that's okay. Do you have any idea how annoying it'd be if you were perfect?"

Wanting to join in on the pillow fight, Bow picked up a pillow and raised it toward Seaspray who glared at him menacingly.

"I dare you."

After considering for a moment, Bow aimed his pillow again at his human friends. This alliance had already started to begin well. Unbeknownst to them, a darker alliance was being made.

* * *

It had been done before. Catra stole a skimmer and rode it to the outskirts of the Fright Zone where the Decepticons waited in their ship. As soon as Starscream noticed her arrival, he got out with Knock Out and Strika beside him.

"That took shorter than I expected." Starscream said.

"I wouldn't count on Shadow Weaver if I were you, big guy." Catra said. "She's not going to tell Hordak about you and she doesn't want anyone else to."

"Well, that's rude." Knock Out said.

"Why?" Strika asked.

"She doesn't trust any of you. She also thinks we can handle the Autobots by ourselves. Obviously, I'm not as dumb as her."

"So you trust us?" Starscream asked.

"No. What gave you that idea?" Catra asked. "Look, I don't trust a group of giant alien robots with cannons in their arms and call themselves Decepticons, but I also know that we do need you. If the Autobots are here, then you may be our best chance."

"So you're playing things close to the chest while still considering an alliance with us." Starscream said. "I respect that. But the fact remains that if Megatron gets here and we don't join forces, he'll destroy us along with this planet to get the Energon. So what do you propose to do about this?"

"Catch." Catra threw a square object with a screen that Scarscream grabbed. "It's a communication device. Now that I've been promoted to Force Captain, I'll be doing a lot of field jobs. The problem is that Shadow Weaver wants me to focus my efforts on bringing back Adora."

"The girl with the sword?" Starscream asked. "Why?"

"It's a long story, really." Catra said. "The point is, Hordak will want the actual job done. So here's what I'm thinking. Wherever Adora is, she'll probably have Autobots with her. Whenever I get sent on a mission with her involved, I'll contact you and you'll meet us there. If anyone asks, you're just there to hunt down Autobots and we never made contact."

"How does that benefit us?" Starscream asked.

"As long as Hordak doesn't know of your existence, the Decepticons won't be welcome into the Fright Zone. But if you get involved with enough Horde missions, then eventually, it'll be impossible for Hordak to ignore you. You'll get your official alliance in no time."

"Wow." Knock Out said. "You are one crafty organic."

"Won't that Shadow Weaver lady be furious if she finds out you helped us?" Strika asked.

"Maybe, but it'll be worth it." Catra said. "So, Commander Starscream, do we have a deal?"

"…Given the circumstances, how can I refuse?" Starscream asked. "Very well. Deal."

The dark pact was sealed. While the Princess Alliance solidified their partnership with the Autobots, Catra had formed her pact with the Decepticons.

But even the Cons aren't prepared for what's hiding inside of their ship: a certain creature with an insect-like buzzing sound.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Another chapter done. Sorry this took a while. I can never control what I'm in the mood to write with all these other stories I'm making. But I am glad I made this when I did. I hope you like it. Next chapter will include your favorite aquatic princess and the most dramatic pirate. Also, I'd love for you to guess what that creature at the end of this chapter is. Any and all comments are welcome._


	5. The Seaspray Gate

"Council, we are looking for new ways to strengthen our defenses against the Horde." Angella addressed. "Anyone have any ideas?" As usual, her daughter raised her hand up. "Anyone besides Glimmer?"

"Hey, give the kid a break, your highness." Hot Rod said. "Your daughter has good ideas."

"You mean like us blindly attacking the Horde base near Plumeria?" Arcee asked.

"Hey, you agreed." Hot Rod argued. "And for the record, I'm talking about the Autobot protection program. We'd send Autobots in to each kingdom to help protect it."

"All of the other princesses are confined to their own kingdoms to protect." Angella said. "They don't want anything to do with this war. Besides, there aren't enough Autobots to protect every kingdom."

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Yeah, that's right." Hot Rod said. "More Autobots are coming. Soon, before you know it, there'll be some Autobots protecting the kingdoms while we have more in reserve here on Bright Moon."

"And as it turns out," Glimmer said, "I found another kingdom. All I'm proposing is a diplomatic mission."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Salineas." Glimmer said. "Princess Mermista took over after her father retired. Whoever controls Salineas controls the seas. It'd be a big help for the rebellion."

"And as for Autobot protection, we can bring Seaspray." Bow suggested.

"Yes, you can send… Wait, what?" Seaspray responded with a confused tone.

"I mean, 'sea' is in his name." Bow said.

"Having the word 'sea' in my name doesn't make me qualified." Seaspray said.

"Seaspray, the only other Autobot we have available is Fixit." Hot Rod said. "If you got another suggestion, I'd love to hear it."

"I'll try not to be offended by bat… cat… that!" Fixit said.

"Okay, I get it." Seaspray said. "I'll help protect Sealineas."

"…All right then." Angella said.

* * *

Seaworthy was full of potential sailors and pirates.

"Why are we here?" Bow asked.

"We need a boat and an experienced sea captain." Glimmer said. "We'll find it here."

"But why here?" Bow asked. "Seaspray, why don't you just turn into a boat and we'll navigate the way to Salineas?"

"Because I don't turn into a boat." Seaspray said sternly.

"We'll wait outside while you find our captain." Arcee said. "I doubt we can fit inside anyway."

* * *

"Tell me why we have to remain here in the ship waiting for that cat girl's call." Knock Out said.

"As I explained before, Knock Out," Starscream said, "Megatron needs us to be full of resources when he arrives. The Horde is the only force willing enough to share their resources with us. But since that witch, Shadow Weaver, won't give us a chance, we'll have to rely on Catra's plan. We must remain where we are until further notice if we are to be in this Hordak's graces. So until then, we must stay on this ship and wait until Catra calls us."

"You seem to put a lot of faith in that Etherian, Commander Starscream." Knock Out said. "Since when do you kowtow to a lower life-form?"

"I kowtow to no one." Starscream returned.

Suddenly, a loud thud echoed through the halls. Starscream and Knock Out followed the sound to the Energon bay. There, they found a strange sight. Strika was there pulling the green arm of a smaller Cybertronian she had pinned to the ground with her foot. This particular Cybertronian had a clamp around his teeth, bug-like eyes, and a yellow striped extension from his back. His voice had a bug-like buzz coming from it.

"What in the world?" Starscream asked.

"'Caught this little guy trying to get a sip of Energon." Strika said. "Want me to squish him, boss?"

"Please, no." begged the bug-like Cybertronian. "Waspinator was so hungry. Waspinator just wanted a taste."

"Waspinator?" Starscream asked. "Wait a minute… You're a Predacon, aren't you?"

"Maybe." The one called Waspinator answered.

Starscreamed sighed rubbing his face. "This is going to be a headache. Strika, let him go. I'll talk to this bug."

Strika removed her foot allowing Waspinator to get up. Starscream pulled him aside for a talk.

"What are you going here?" Starscream asked.

"Long story." Waspinator said.

"Then make is short." Starscream threatened.

Waspinator gulped. "Well, spider-bot told Waspinator to get more Energon for experiments. Waspinator find doc bot and giant bot putting Energon in their ship. Waspinator go in to ask for some, but ship took off."

Starscream sighed again. "By 'spider-bot', I assume you mean Tarantulas, and by 'doc bot' and 'giant bot', I assume you mean Knock Out and Strika."

On the other side of the room, Strika turned her head to the doctor.

"So what's the deal with this guy?"

"You don't know what he is?" Knock Out asked. "You've had more field experience than me. Waspinator is one of the Predacons."

"What-acons?"

"The Predacons. While most Cybertronians can turn into vehicles like you and me, there are some with more… biological forms. A few hundred years ago, two ships full of Autobots and Decepticons crash landed on an alien planet. They needed vehicle modes to survive, but it was a jungle planet with no sign of urban development. Instead, they modified their T-Cogs to scan and change their forms into animals. The Decepticons became Predacons while the Autobots became the Maximals."

"That's neat." Strika said. "But why is Starscream irritated by him?"

"Well, if you believe the rumors, Waspinator is a total klutz who gets himself blown up on a regular basis. They always put him back together with healing pods, but having this particular Predacon among us means asking for trouble."

"Unfortunately," Starscream said approaching them, "We may be forced to deal with him."

"That hurt Waspinator's feelings. Waspinator want to prove himself."

Suddenly, a female voice called out from the side. It came from the screen given to Starscream by Catra, who's face appeared.

"Starscream," she whispered, "I got news for you."

"Ah, Catra." Starscream welcomed. "We're glad to…"

"Shhhh!" Catra hissed. "Look, Adora and the Autobots are in Seaworthy right now. They might be going to Salineas. Shadow Weaver is sending me to pick her up. This is your chance to prove yourselves."

"Why are you whispering?" Starsceam asked.

"Because I'm full of Horde soldiers who could give me up, especially this new girl, Scorpia. Just help us take Salineas." Her call dropped.

"Contgratulations, Waspinator." Starscream said. "You got your first assignment. Strika, you go with him to make sure he doesn't mess up."

"If you say so." Strika said. "Let's go, million-eyes."

* * *

Adora, Bow, and Glimmer did end up hiring a captain with experience in Salineas. The problem is that the captain, Sea Hawk, has a bit of a boisterous personality. He couldn't stop talking about his accomplishments. He slowed down on the bragging after Adora beat him at arm wrestling, and he nearly fell silent after meeting the Autobots for the first time.

"Holy sea cow!" Sea Hawk said. "Giant alien robots!"

"Yeah, the guy's captain material all right." Seaspray said.

"Sea Hawk," Glimmer said, "You said you'd take us to your ship."

"Right!" Sea Hawk extended both his arms to a blue-and-white boat. "Behold, the Dragon's Daughter III!"

"What happened to the Dragon's Daughters I and II?" Adora asked.

"Sadly, they went down in flames." Sea Hawk said.

"How did that happen?" Bow asked in astonishment.

"I set them on fire. Adventure!"

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Honestly, I don't know if he's for real myself." Seaspray replied.

Arcee observed the ship. "Sails, good. Deck, good."

"Arcee, bad." Hot Rod shot.

"All that aside," Arcee said, "This thing could do well."

"There's just one problem." Sea Hawk said. "When I built the Dragon's Daughter III, I never thought that I'd be transporting four enormous robots across the ocean. I'm afraid it's just not big enough."

"Well, we can't let you go to Salineas by yourselves." Arcee said.

"We might need to make some arrangements." Hot Rod said.

"I may have an idea." Sea Hawk said.

After a few hours, the Dragon's Daughter III sailed out of Seaworthy with Sea Hawk, Adora, Bow, and Glimmer on it. Attached to the back was a rope that tied to a large, metal platform that floated miraculously behind, even more miraculously since the four Autobots stood on top of it.

"Now, that's an idea!" Sea Hawk said proudly.

"That's a matter of perspective." Arcee said.

"I'm amazed this is being kept afloat even with the four of us on it." Seaspray said. "Where'd you get it?"

"Ah, a daring story, it is." Sea Hawk said. "It all started when…"

"Never mind. Forget I asked."

Sea Hawk then decided to play a song for the passangers while the Autobots tried to drown him out.

* * *

On the edge of the ocean, Waspinator and Strika stared into the open water.

"Big water." Waspinator said. "So, how Strike bot supposed to get across."

"Easy. You're going to carry me."

"What? But Strike bot so very…"

"So very what?" Strika asked giving a murderous glare.

"Uh… never mind."

Waspinator changed into a giant, green wasp and grabbed onto Strika's body. She crossed her arms while her partner struggled to lift her above the ground level and hovered them both across the ocean.

* * *

Due to Sea Hawk's ambitious stupidity, the Autobots were attacked by a sea monster. Though with She-Ra's strength and Hot Rod's blaster, the fight was over before it started. Suffice to say, Glimmer and Arcee were not happy.

Eventually, the Dragon's Daughter III made it onto the Salineas docks. They waited for a bit before one of the guards ran across the area and confronted them nearly out of breath.

"You're trespassing on Salineas." He said. "State your business now."

"I am Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon. We are here to speak to Princess Mermista."

"You can tell her Sea Hawk is here as well." The captain said. "We're old friends. I'm sure she'll be glad to see me."

As soon as they made it to the throne room, the Autobots realized that Sea Hawk was wrong.

"Ew. Who let him in here?" Mermista asked.

"Uh, hi." Glimmer said. "I am Glimmer. I'm here to ask if you'd join the Princess Alliance."

"Oh, that." Mermista asked in a lazy tone. "My dad said it went horribly last time."

"Well, your dad didn't have us." Seaspray said.

"Whoa." Mermista gasped in surprise. "How did I miss you guys?"

"Right." Glimmer said. "These are the Autobots. They came from outer space to help us. We'd also like to let Seaspray here help protect Salineas."

"Why? Because he has the word 'sea' in his name?" Mermista asked. "That's a pretty lazy way of thinking."

"Tell me about it." Seaspray said.

"Look, believe it or not, Seapray is one of the toughest among us." Hot Rod said. "He's a strong, immovable demolitions expert. His only downside is that he can't transform."

"What?" Bow asked.

"Hot Rod!" Seaspray said.

"Oh." Hot Rod just realized what he just said. "My bad. Sorry, big guy."

Seaspray sighed. "It's all right."

"Well, if that giant bucket of bolts isn't enough," Sea Hawk said, "You could always have me here."

"Absolutely not." Mermista scoffed.

"I thought you said she liked you." Bow said.

"Eh… It's a bit complicated." Sea Hawk said.

"You mean how you got us kicked out of the Dolphin Social for challenging the doorman to a duel?" Mermista asked.

"I don't remember that."

"Or the time you set our gondola on fire in the Tunnel of Love?"

"That, I do remember."

"Look, you guys just came at a very bad time." Mermista said. "The Sea Gate is failing. It's the only thing keeping the Horde out, and now, it's fritzing out. And it's only gotten worse since those giant crystals emerged. So yeah, I've basically inherited a failing kingdom, but you know, whatever."

Everyone looked outside to see the Sea Gate. The walls beside the gate had Energon crystals impaled into them.

"That doesn't look good." Arcee said.

"Hang on." Adora said as she observed a window painting. "This is First Ones writing."

"What does it say?" Hot Rod asked.

"It looks like the Sea Gate is First Ones tech, meant as a way of utilizing the Salineas runestone."

"Can you fix it?" Glimmer asked.

"Glimmer, she can't heal trees." Hot Rod pointed out.

"Well, it's worth a shot." Adora said.

"And while you're doing that, we'll extract the Energon from the walls." Arcee added. "Once they're removed, patching them up should be easy."

"What do you say, Princess Mermista?" Glimmer asked. "If we help you, will you consider joining the rebellion."

Mermista groaned. "I guess. But Sea Hawk as to leave."

"What?" Sea Hawk asked. "But where do I go?"

Bumblebee buzzed.

"The boat does sound good." Seaspray said. "Sorry, captain mustache."

* * *

Adora changed into She-Ra when they all were in front of the Sea Gate. She pointed her sword and a blast of energy connected them both. However, it was a slow process that required a lot of concentration, so it would take a while.

While She-Ra was attempting to fix the gate, Adora and Arcee caught sight of Sea Hawk unraveling the Dragon's Daughter III. They approached him at the docks surprising him.

"I wish you wouldn't do that!"

"What are you doing?" Arcee asked.

"Well, I was just…" Sea Hawk sighed. "I'm only getting in the way. I just wanted this to be a memorable adventure, but I keep disappointing you all."

"So you're just leaving us?" Glimmer asked.

"It wasn't always like this." Sea Hawk said. "Back in my homeland, I had a crew that appreciated everything I did. Even burning down my boat was considered charming. But now, everything's changing. My crew's not here, the crystals are inconveniencing everyone, giant robots come from the sky. When compared to that, no one can take me seriously anymore."

Glimmer sighed. "I understand. I can't get anyone to take me seriously either."

"Same goes for me." Arcee agreed.

"You?" Sea Hawk asked. "But you're a princess and a giant alien soldier robot."

"My mom's an immortal queen and all I got are sparkle magic." Glimmer said.

"That's nothing." Arcee said. "I once had a partner. But ever since I lost him, no one can trust me out on the field anymore. Ever since, I was put on a scouting ship with a cyber-ninja, a scout with a broken voice box, a Wrecker with a damaged T-Cog, a glitching Minicon, and a former fellow trainee I had who pokes fun at my expense every chance he gets. You really think people can respect someone like that."

"Sorry." Sea Hawk said.

"Hey, you still got us as a crew for the moment, captain." Glimmer said.

* * *

"Hey, Hot Rod," Bow said, "While we're waiting, there's something I gotta ask."

"What's that, Bow?"

"Well, back at the throne room, you said something about Seaspray not being able to transform. What's that about?"

"Well, Seaspray gets a little upset when he's reminded of that, but I suppose there's no harm in telling you. Just don't repeat it within his earshot."

"Mum's the word."

"I don't know all the details, but a long time ago, Seaspray was one of the Wreckers, the Autobots' special operative group who take on destructive jobs no one else would. They blew up bases, trashed 'Cons, and had stories that would give you nightmares. Then, one day, Seapray found out that one of their own defected to the Decepticons. There was a great fight, and during the struggle, Seaspray's T-Cog was damaged."

"T-Cog?" Bow asked.

"It's a Cybertronian organ that allows us to transform. Seaspray's was damaged. The other Wreckers got him some help while the traitor escaped. The medics did everything they could, but they couldn't fix everything. He could use the weapons in his body, but he couldn't change into vehicle mode anymore."

"If it's an organ, couldn't there be a donor?"

"Not that simple. You see, Seaspray's type of T-Cog is a rare one. To find someone with a compatible one is slim, according to the doctors. Since he doesn't have vehicle mode anymore, he considered himself a liability and transferred to scouting missions. He wasn't the same after… Oh, scrap!"

Bow looked at where Hot Rod was staring. Across the bay was a large, metal ship. The black sails on top had the Horde symbol on it.

"We've got company!" Hot Rod shouted to his fellow Autobots.

"Well, at least we got some action!" Seaspray pulled out his guns. "Watch and see what you get, princess."

"This better be good."

The Autobots jumped off and went to nearby rock spires. Meanwhile, the Horde, led by Catra and her new partner, Scorpia, attempted to fire their energy cannon at the Sea Gate. Catra noticed Adora at the gate and left the ship to advance toward her.

Bow and Bumblebee boarded the ship to fight against the Horde cadets. Obviously, they were no match for Bumblebee, but Scorpia managed to catch Bow and throw him overboard. Bumblebee jumped off and caught him as they both fell in the water.

Meanwhile, Adora felt a considerable weight on the sword. She opened her eyes and saw Catra leaning on it smiling at her.

"Wow. The tiara just gets stupider every time I see it." She commented.

"Catra." Adora said. "What? Did Shadow Weaver send you to take me back?"

"Something like that." Catra said. "And hey, while you were gone, I got your promotion."

"Congrats." Adora said sarcastically. "But you can to tell Shadow Weaver that I'm not going back."

Catra, upset at the comment, attacked Adora trying to break her concentration. Adora defended herself, but she couldn't afford to break the stance.

"This is what you left me for?" Catra asked. "Playing tiaras with your so-called 'friends' who aren't even here to look after you? When did you become so weak?"

Catra suddenly heard the sound of something warming up. She looked down to see Hot Rod pointing a gun at her.

"I wouldn't exactly say she's alone." Hot Rod said. "She's always got friends not too far."

Catra took a glance at the horizon and smiled. "Funny. Neither are mine."

Hot Rod looked out and saw Waspinator and Strika coming in fast. Waspinator let go of Strika and she was launched straight to Hot Rod tackling him into the water.

Arcee saw Waspinator and attempted to shoot him and let Glimmer and Sea Hawk get to cover. The Predacon just flew side to side trying to avoid the blasts.

"Waspinator under attack. Waspinator must defend. Waspinator… TERRORIZE!"

Waspinator changed into his robot form and pulled out his pistol to fire back. Arcee jumped for cover and pressed her comm system.

"Everyone, there's a Predacon here. He came with another Decepticon I'm unaware of."

"I noticed!" Hot Rod answered while trying to avoid the punching.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"I don't know." Hot Rod answered. "She's definitely a big Decepticon. I think she has some kind of clamp around her mouth."

"A clamp?" Seaspray asked with a growing voice of fear. "Oh, no. Hang in there, Rod!"

Hot Rod was worried he may not make it. Strika pushed him down and stood above him.

"Is that all you got?" Strika asked. "I eat scrap metal like you for breakfast."

"…You eat scrap metal for breakfast?" Hot Rod replied.

Strika raised her fist ready to lash down, but Seaspray tackled her from behind.

"I'll handle her!" Seaspray said. "You go help the others!"

Hot Rod nodded and jumped out of the water. Meanwhile, Strika looked at her attacker and laughed. "Well, if it ain't barnacle breath."

"Call me Mr. Barnacle Breath!" Seaspray said.

"What? Are you up for another beating?" Strika asked. "This time, I'll do more than just break your T-Cog."

"This coming from someone with a broken jaw." Seaspray said. "You know, I still don't get it, Strika. Why'd you betray the Wreckers?"

"Because they weren't enough for me. Sure, we get into plenty of scraps with Decepticons, but I never felt complete. And in time, I realized why. I'm only loyal to the strongest, and Megatron is just that."

"So you tried to crush us just to get on Megatron's good side?" Seaspray asked. "I knew you weren't exactly bright, but I didn't hink you'd be so petty."

"We'll see who's petty after I leave you a sparkless husk at the bottom of the ocean!" Strika said. She charged and Seaspray did the same.

When they collided, they traded blows to each other. They seemed to be on equal ground, but Strika got the advantage when she gave an uppercut to hard, it launched Seaspray out of the water and to a large piece of land. Strika followed him.

"Is that all you got?" Strika asked. "If you couldn't beat me before, what makes you think you can win with a broken T-Cog?"

"Because this is about so much more." Seaspray said. "I thought I was too broken to be of any real help. That's why I was reluctant to protect a kingdom by myself. But then, I remembered that the Princess Alliance was a lot more broken than I am. But that's not stopping them from picking themselves up. So I must not give up on myself either! And besides, there's one advantage I have that you don't!"

"And what might that be?"

"It's… pillowcase periwinkle!"

"What? That doesn't even make any…"

In that act of confusion, Seaspray took the opportunity to push Strika off the big rock they stood on. When Strika was pushed off, she saw Princess Mermista next to her motioning her hand. Suddenly, a large wave came from behind and collided with Strika midair. She fell back underneath the depths.

Waspinator had lost track of Arcee. He hovered around looking for her.

"Waspinator don't care if this is good for Decepticons. Waspinator is above water jobs and searching for Autobots."

Suddenly, Glimmer appeared out of nowhere in front of Waspinator. "And Waspinator talks too much!"

Waspinator screamed and tried to swat Glimmer, but she teleported away. That gave Arcee the time she needed to jump behind the Predacon and kick him into the water. When Waspinator emerged, he was suddenly rammed by a flaming ship. It pushed Waspinator into the Horde ship which made it explode. Luckily, Scorpia and the cadets escaped on the rafts. Scorpia found Catra watching Adora finish fixing the Sea Gate and picked her up. That's when they found Waspinator's head floating in the water.

"Well, there goes one giant robot, am I right?" Scorpia asked.

"Shut up." Catra scowled.

"Excuse Waspinator." Catra, Scorpia, and the cadets slowly looked back and Waspinator's head and saw it moving on its own. "Waspinator is without body. Could Waspinator use yours?"

The Horde soldiers were so surprised, they let out loud screams.

"Why are you screaming?" Waspinator asked.

"Because you're a talking head!" Kyle responded.

"So are you." Waspinator replied.

"…He's not wrong." Lonnie said. "Look, Shadow Weaver told us not to associate with these things. Let's just go before we give her another reason to not like us."

Catra didn't like the idea, especially with the pact she made with Starscream, but she had no choice. Waspinator's head was left adrift until Strika picked it up along with the rest of his body. They left the area together.

When the Sea Gate was done, everyone met back up.

"Well, that was exhilarating." Sea Hawk said. "Is that what it's like to fight those Decepticons?"

"Nah. We had it easy." Hot Rod said.

"Well, Sea Hawk, since you destroyed your boat, I guess I could loan you mine." Mermista said. Sea Hawk was clearly excited about that. "Just don't set it on fire."

"No promises!" Sea Hawk said. "But princess, if I could ask for one thing…" Mermista groaned. "Please accept the Autobots' help. Princess Glimmer is truly capable and if she believes this protection plan will work, then I trust her completely."

"Thanks, Sea Hawk." Glimmer said.

"I suppose." Mermista said. "After all, both the Horde and these Decepti-whazits attacked my home. I want some payback. And your blonde friend can turn into an 8-foot tall lady with a sword and I want her on my side." She turned to Seaspray. "Well, I suppose we're working together now. Welcome to Salineas, Seaspray."

"It's an honor, your highness." Seaspray said. He looked back at Sea Hawk and Bow picking up violins. "If the two of you sing one more shanty, I'm gonna kick the both of you in the poop deck!"

Everyone laughed.

"You know," Hot Rod said to his partner, "It looks like this Autobot Protection Program might just actually work."

"Yeah." Adora agreed. "I guess it will."

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Any and all comments are welcome._


	6. System Fixit

**Author's Note: **_Well, I just finished the finale of She-Ra. And hands down, it's probably my favorite Netflix show. The finale was epic and I nearly teared up. Now, I can't stop brainstorming ideas for the future. If this chapter here seems a bit rushed, that's because I wanted to finish this as soon as possible. Thank you for your support for this story. Any and all comments are welcome._

* * *

Adora, Glimmer, and Bow traveled along the trail on the side of a mountain with Hot Rod, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Fixit behind them. They were on their way to the kingdom of Dryl.

"I can't wait to meet Princess Entrapta." Glimmer said.

"Me either." Bow said.

"You've been saying that since we left Bright Moon." Hot Rod said. "What's so special about her?"

"Yeah, I'm with Rod here." Adora said. "What makes this Entrapta so important?"

"Entrapta is a master inventor." Bow explained. "She builds stuff and remakes old devices using First Ones tech. She's a big deal in the tech community."

"And with her on our side, she can build us all sorts of weapons to use against the Horde and maybe even the Decepticons." Glimmer added.

"I can see why you invited me here then." Fixit said. "This'll be a fascinating ex… ex… ex…" SMACK! "Experience."

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Just around the pass." Bow replied.

"Since when do you speak Bumblebee?" Arcee asked.

"I've been learning." Bow answered. "Since we're working together, I thought I'd be appropriate to learn his speech."

"And here, I thought your whole thing was your arrow stuff." Hot Rod said.

"For your information, my 'arrow stuff' is cool." Bow pulled out his quiver and pulled out different arrows. "This one is an explosive arrow. This one is an emergency flare. This one… Well, it's just pointy. And my latest creation: sonic arrow!"

"Sonic arrow?" Adora chuckled.

"No offense, Bow, but when will we need a sonic arrow?" Glimmer asked. "When we have to get up really early?"

"Or if we get lost in a crowd?" Adora asked.

Suddenly, the group came across a large pile of rocks blocking their path.

"What happened here?" Arcee asked.

"Must be an avalanche." Bow said. "We must be very careful. One wrong step might make…"

"For the honor of Grayskull!" Adora declared as she turned into She-Ra. She then used her sword to blast all the rocks out of the way.

"Adora, you can't just use She-Ra like that." Bow said. "You could've made it worse."

"But I didn't." She-Ra said. "Look, I've lived my whole life without these powers. No way am I going to stop using them."

"Why shouldn't she get to show off a little?" Hot Rod asked.

"Don't encourage her, Hot Rod." Arcee warned. "You know, you were just as bad as her in basic training. Remember when you first got your cannons installed and you spent all night in that firing range and got blasted by that ricochet blast?"

"It's hard to forget when you keep reminding me." Hot Rod said. "Besides, you're not exactly miss perfect yourself. You've been in a few funny scraps that I'll always treasure. And if my luck is right, you're due for another, and I'll be there to laugh."

"Not if it happens to you thanks to your foolishness first." Arcee said.

Glimmer rolled her eyes. "They're at it again."

"Yeah. Can't they agree on anything?" Adora asked.

Eventually, they made it to Dryl. Unlike the other kingdoms, this one was small and fortified. At first glance, it looked dead except for the red light spinning around the tower.

"Something's wrong." Glimmer said. "The distress beacon is on."

"But there's no Horde activity anywhere." Adora said.

"Maybe it's the Decepticons." Arcee said. "Be ready for anything."

"Just be careful." Bow said. "Entrapta's known for setting up traps."

"Hence the name, I beckon… reckon." Fixit said.

They traveled through the city with their weapons pointed at every direction. They nearly set off a few traps, but they managed to avoid them. A villager warned them to leave before escaping in the manhole. That's when a whirring sound was heard.

A strange robot crept out with electricity sparking out of its amputated leg. Its eye was glowing red and it was clearly hostile. Hot Rod immediately blasted it to pieces.

"Not a Decepticon." Fixit panicked.

"Something's not right." Glimmer said. "Let's continue on in."

"Wait!" Bow said. "What if…"

It was too late. As soon as Adora, Glimmer, and Fixit approached the door, a trap door opened up beneath them letting them all fall before closing back up.

"Guys!" Hot Rod gasped. "I'm going after them!"

"Rod, you don't know…"

It was too late again. Hot Rod forced the trap door open and jumped in.

"Ugh, that idiot!" Arcee growled. "I'm going to scout ahead to find another way in." She changed into a motorcycle and drove off leaving Bow and Bumblebee to face the robots… and meet the locals.

* * *

Inside the castle, strangely, Adora, Glimmer, and Fixit fell down a different chute than Hot Rod. The three of them fell into a cage.

"What just happened?" Fixit asked.

"Something's happening with the castle." Glimmer said. "I'll teleport us out of here and back to the others. Grab on."

"Right." Adora said as she held onto her friend. Fixit did the same.

In a flash of sparkles, the three of them vanished and reappeared… in the wrong place. They weren't where the other Autobots would be. Glimmer tried again only to be sent back to another random place. After failing a third time…

"Let's stop teleporting." Adora insisted.

"Agreed." Glimmer said.

"I reckon that… beckon that… second that!" Fixit said.

Suddenly, a metal sound was heard across the hallway. A flexible figure appeared from the air ducts. Fixit and Glimmer moved behind She-Ra who drew her sword. But much to their surprise, the figure meeting them was the person they wanted to meet from the start.

"Princesses! I'm saved!"

Entrapta stood with her tendril-like hair lifting her up. She approached them getting a close look at them, but stopped when she found Fixit.

"This is new." Entrapta said.

"Hi. I'm Fixit. You must be Entrapta."

"Fascinating." Entrapta measured Fixit. "A small, mechanical android with a functioning thought process. Cause: unknown."

"Princess Entrapta." Glimmer said. "I'm Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon. If I may ask, what's going on? Why is Dryl going against us?"

"My robots didn't start out that way." Entrapta said. "I built them to help out around the lab and take care of basic necessities for me. But then…"

Entrapta was interrupted by a loud noise coming from the other side of the hallway. Everyone turned and saw a large, cube-shaped robot with spinning brushes at the front like a vacuum. It turned its red eyes at them and approached their direction.

"Let's get out of here!" Glimmer shouted.

Everyone turned to run… except for Entrapta who jumped on top of the robot to look closer.

"Fascinating." She admired.

Suddenly, one of her hair vines got caught on the brushers and she felt her head being tugged. She struggled to escape. She-Ra noticed Entrapta's predicament and jumped to rescue her. She immediately lunged her sword at the robot and shut it off with the impalement.

While Entrapta escaped, a red streak crept up the blade of She-Ra's sword. When the gem at the hilt turned red, She-Ra's eyes also did as she began to growl. Without warning, she kept on stabbing the robot with a monstrous grunt in between roars.

"What's wrong with her?" Fixit asked.

"I don't know!" Glimmer said. She teleported to She-Ra. "Adora, stop! It's over! Adora!" She tackled Adora and as they both hit the ground, the sword fell out of She-Ra's hand turning her back to normal.

"Adora, are you all right?" Glimmer asked.

Adora opened her eyes in a sluggish rate and her voice began to slur. "Glimmer? Why are there two of you?" She giggled. "You're not right."

"_I'm_ not right?" Glimmer asked. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm She-Ra." Adora said with a dumb tone in her voice.

"Uh… what's going on?" Fixit asked.

"Hmm." Entrapta was studying Adora. "She must be infected. I'll have to take her apart to be sure."

"Whoa, hold on." Glimmer said. "First, no taking anyone apart, especially Adora. Second, what do you mean infected?"

"Well, a few weeks ago, when the strange crystals started growing from the ground, it opened up a new tunnel in the Dryl mines." Entrapta explained. "There, I found a very rare First One's disk that I've been studying. But it seems to have created some kind of virus that was affecting the First One's tech I installed in my robots. Since Adora's sword is First One tech, it may have infected her through it as well."

"So that's what happened." Fixit said. "Maybe we can reverse everything if we find the disk and employ it… enjoy it… destroy it!"

"Wait! We can't!" Entrapta insisted. "I need it for my experiment!"

"I think we can safely say this experiment is a failure." Glimmer said.

"But what if it's not a… Okay, I admit, it's a failure."

"Woohoo! Mission!" Adora cheered.

* * *

For the next hour, Entrapta lead Glimmer, Fixit, and a delusional Adora through hallway after hallway full of secret passageways and hidden switches. Apparently, Entrapta build the place like a labyrinth that only she could navigate, but while her electronic map was malfunctioning, even she was lost. A few times, Adora would playfully almost wander off, but Glimmer always brought her back to the group. During the search, Fixit and Entrapta had the chance to talk.

"So, Fixit was it, mind telling me who made you?" Entrapta asked.

"Actually, I was made the same as other Cybertronians."

"What are those?"

"Natives of the planet Cybertron."

"…Wait. Are you telling me you're an alien?"

"Did I forget to mention that part? So… So… So…" SMACK! "Sorry about that."

"WOW!" Entrapta cheered. "No wonder you're so technologically advanced! Alien robots! What's your home planet like?"

"Well, right now, it's kinda destroyed. We came to this planet so we could survive, but then, we learned about this Horde that's threatening everybody. Hopefully, we can help by sending at least one Autobot do different kingdoms. That's why I'm here, to help you."

"You know, I've always wanted an alien as a lab assistant. Sounds good! Once we get out of this mess, you're hired!"

"Hired?" Glimmer asked. "Look, we didn't come to give you an employee. We just need…"

"Glimmer?"

A familiar voice came from another hallway, around the corner. Glimmer recognized the voice.

"Hot Rod? Is that you?"

"Yep. Hey, is Arcee with you?"

"No."

"Good. Look, I… kinda need your help. Just promise me one thing: don't tell Arcee."

"Don't tell her what?" Glimmer asked. As she and the others turned around the corner, they saw the robot they were talking to. The issue is, Hot Rod was flat on his back stiff as a statue. There were red cracks across his hand similar to the streaks on Adora's sword.

"So… how was your day?" Hot Rod asked.

"Hey, I think I know that guy." Adora said.

"Wow! Another robot!" Entrapta said. "A much bigger one than Fixit though. I wonder if Fixit is considered a tiny version of him. If so, that'd be really cute."

"Hot Rod, what are you doing?" Glimmer asked. "Get up."

"…I can't."

"What?" Fixit asked.

"I can't move. All right? I'm trying, but I can't move a finger. …See? That was me trying to move a finger."

"What happened?" Glimmer asked.

"I have no idea." Hot Rod said. "After I dropped from that trap door, I found myself in the middle of a hallway. I've been trying to find a way out when suddenly, these robots jumped me. I crushed one of them into pieces with my hand, but that's when I just froze up."

"You froze up?" Glimmer asked.

"Yeah. After that, the robots just left as if I didn't exist. I've been stuck here for thirty minutes."

"I'll take a look." Fixit said. A flash of his eyes scanned Hot Rod's body for a minute. "Hmm. It appears that something activated your stasis lock."

"I beg your pardon?" Hot Rod asked.

"What's a stasis lock?" Glimmer asked.

"It's this mechanism within each Cybertronian." Fixit explained. "When activated, the Cybertronian themselves is put in a paralyzed state. We often activate others to take prisoners. Perhaps it has something to do with the virus."

"Virus? What virus?" Hot Rod asked.

"The virus that came from this First Ones disk in my lab." Entrapta said. "Didn't think it'd have this strange effect on alien robots. That must be why the robots left; they must see you as one of their own."

"Look, I can't let Arcee see me like this." Hot Rod said. "She'll lord this over me forever. And the last thing I want is for her to be right."

"All right." Glimmer said. "Looks like we'll have to take you to the lab. How though, is the issue."

"I have a big dolly in a nearby closet." Entrapta said. "And maybe later, I can study this giant robot's… 'infrastructure'." She pulled out several power tools.

"Somebody get her away from me!" Hot Rod said.

"Boom boom, am I right?" Adora chuckled.

"Adora?" Hot Rod asked. "Does this castle drive people insane?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Bow and Bumblebee found the kitchen staff of Dryl. The three of them agreed to join the two as a sort of protection. They fought the robots despite the chefs not knowing how to fight. It was right then when…

"Anyone there?"

"Arcee?" Bow recognized.

He and Bumblebee followed the voice. When they reached her, they saw her in her blue motorcycle form. She was laying on her side.

"There you are." Bow said. "Come on. The staff said the problem may be in Entrapta's lab. If we hurry, we can…"

"I can't."

Bow didn't expect to hear that from Arcee. "What?"

"I said I can't. Look, the truth is… I can't move."

Bumblebee buzzed.

"I mean, I can't move. I've been circling the castle trying to find a way in when more robots leaped at me. One of them even scratched me. That's when I froze and crashed."

"How did that happen?" Bow asked.

"I don't know. Look, Bumblebee, you're going to have to carry me. Just don't tell Hot Rod. He'll never let me live it down."

"All right." Bow said.

* * *

After an hour of searching, keeping Adora under control, and pushing Hot Rod's paralyzed body, the group inside the castle finally made their way to the lab. Entrapta inserted her code, but she got electrocuted.

"Are you all right?" Fixit asked.

"Just peachy." Entrapta said. "Though, it appears that the keycode itself is corrupted as well."

Glimmer tried to teleport in, but after a struggle inside, she came back out. "Okay, there are a whole bunch of robots inside. Too many for us."

"Perhaps we can…"

"Glimmer?" Bow asked as he, Bumblebee, and the kitchen staff entered from an adjacent hallway.

"Bow!" Glimmer cheered.

"Yay! A rainbow!" Adora cheered.

"More of your friends, I presume?" Entrapta asked.

"Right." Bow said. "I'm Bow and this is Bumblebee and Arcee."

"Arcee?" Hot Rod asked as his eyes were locked at Arcee's vehicle mode in Bumblebee's arms.

"Hot Rod?" Arcee asked. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"What are you doing in vehicle mode?"

They both then caught sight of each other. Arcee looked at Hot Rod's hand while Hot Rod looked at Arcee's side. They were both emitting the red static.

"You're paralyzed too?" they both asked at once.

"Now, that's funny." Adora said.

"So what's going on?" Bow asked.

"Well, the robots are infected with a virus that came from a First Ones disk Entrapta was studying in her lab… lab… lab…" SMACK! "Laboratory. Adora got infected too."

"But we can't get in, and if we do, there's a lot of robots in there." Glimmer said.

"Well, we got our own yellow scout to give us a hand." Bow said.

Bumblebee buzzed in agreement before pointing his cannons at the door.

BOOM!

When the door blew open and the smoke filled the room, Bumblebee started to shoot at any robot that got close. Meanwhile, Bow and the others ran across the wall and around the robots. They made it to the computer, but there was one problem…

"It won't accept my commands anymore!" Entrapta said. "Let's try the main power plug!" With all their might, they got to the plug and ripped it out, but the robots still kept going berserk. "The disk is becoming its own power source! Amazing! Though, I suppose this means we better leave the planet!"

Suddenly, Bumblebee accidently stepped on a crawling robot behind him. His foot emitted a red static that quickly overwhelmed him for a second. When it died down, Bumblebee buzzed in disappointment.

"Hold on!" Fixit said. "Bow, I may have one more idea!"

After Fixit explained his plan, Bow went along with it. As soon as Glimmer brought them far enough, Bow fired his last arrow, his sonic arrow, and fired at the First Ones disk. A loud, ear-piercing shriek came from it and the robots immediately went towards it wit hostile intent. Once they attacked enough, a large explosion came from it and all the robots fell backwards at once. Then, the Autobots were able to move while Adora shook herself back to her senses.

"What happened?" Adora asked. "Wait… Now, I remember. Sorry, guys."

"It's okay." Bow said.

When Arcee was able to move again, she transformed back to robot mode while Hot Rod stood back up. They looked at each other nervously.

"So… you got frozen by those robots." Hot Rod said.

"Yep. Same as you, I guess." Arcee chuckled.

"Tell you what." Hot Rod said. "How's about we can laugh about this together, but not hold it over each other."

"Hot Rod, surprisingly, that's a good idea." Arcee said.

"Princesses, alien robots," Entrapta said, "Thank you. From now on, you've got my support. I will help build as many weapons as you need. Just as long as Fixit's with me."

"You got it." Fixit said. "This is a start of a beautiful friend… friend… friend…" Entrapta hit him over the head. "Friendship. Thank you."

* * *

The Autobots left the kingdom and headed the pathway down. As they traveled down, they were conversing.

"Well, it's a good thing there weren't any Horde or Decepticons this time." Hot Rod said.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Good point." Arcee said. "That disk itself was incredibly dangerous. It could even infect She-Ra."

"Guess we can't always rely on our powers." Glimmer said.

"Or us, it seems." Hot Rod said. "I don't want to feel paralyzed like that again."

"And I don't want to feel the way I felt again." Adora said.

"All right then." Glimmer said. She then playfully pointed at a boulder. "Hey, that rock over there is looking at us funny. Now that She-Ra isn't sick anymore, maybe she'd like to smash it?"

"Well, it's good practice." Adora said. "For the honor of Grayskull!"

Once Adora transformed and attacked the rock, the others shook their heads in amusement.

"Kids." Hot Rod commented.

"No control." Arcee agreed, which was the first in a while.

* * *

Back at Entrapta's lab, Fixit was helping clean up. He had just put a few broken pieces of metal when he looked across the lab. His eyes bulged when he caught sight of Entrapta with the disk one-hundred percent whole. Panicking, Fixit grabbed a pair of metal pincers and used it to quickly snatch the disk from the princess' hair.

"Hey!" Entrapta shouted.

"Entrapta, what is this?" Fixit asked. "I thought it was deployed… Destroyed!"

"Only in a few pieces." Entrapta said. "I fixed it no problem."

"It's a very big problem!" Fixit said. "Why did you repair it!"

"I admit, the experiment was a failure, but with a bit of recoding, it could actually be good for…"

"We can't! This thing turned all the robots against us and froze my friends! This is too dangerous! Sorry, but this has to be done!"

Before Entrapta could say anything else, Fixit threw the pincers and the disk out of the nearest window letting it fall off the mountainside.

"Aww." Entrapta said. "Oh, well. I guess this is why I need a lab partner."

"Hopefully, we never have to see that thing again." Fixit said.

He was wrong. Instead of hitting the hard, disk-shattering ground, the device fell into a coarsening water stream. It floated along the river from one bend to another. Eventually, the river lead to the wide ocean, but the disk didn't stop there. The currents in the sea pushed the disk further on south. Very south, to a frozen tundra.

The disk drifted in the water under the ice. Soon, it caught itself on a large, metal object. It latched itself to the object's side while the ice stuck it there. The object appeared to be an enormous capsule with a dark-blue glass over it. There was a big figure resting inside of it. The disk glowed red and spread its red cracks over the capsule.

One last detail about the capsule: it had the Autobot logo on it.

* * *

"The planet of Etheria is in dire peril. The evil Horde has been terrorizing the world for years. But hope is not lost as the Princess Alliance believes in freedom. And with the news spreading about the legendary She-Ra and the visiting robots from outer space, Hordak will be defeated in no time. Especially if they recruit the spunky redhead who is fearless in her determination. And this redhead's name is…"

"Sari!"

The redheaded preteen girl was interrupted in her fantasy by an adult woman. The woman was a sorceress with a purple, sparkling cape and a halo floating around her head. The girl snapped into reality as she remembered she had a broom in her hand and the crystals on the walls around her.

"Sari, quit daydreaming." The sorceress, Castaspella, said. "We've got to get this room swept up for the ceremony. Come on."

"Okay, mom." Sari sighed as she continued her chore. "I was just getting to the good part."


	7. Sari of Mystacor

It was a beautiful morning when Bow woke up in the middle of the forest. He was glad to see Arcee and Hot Rod sitting there waiting for them. He turned to Glimmer, who was sleeping next to him.

"Morning, sleepy-head." Bow greeted trying to get his friend up.

"No, Bow." Glimmer said struggling to stay asleep. "Just let me sleep."

"But it's a beautiful morning."

"Today's canceled. …I can feel you staring at me. Why is it that the guy who snores is the first to fall asleep?"

"What? I don't snore. Hey, Bumblebee, do I snore?"

Bumblebee buzzed while tilting his flat hand left and right.

"Seriously? Arcee?"

"No offense, Bow, but I know some Cybertronians that can turn into monster trucks, and even they're more silent than you."

"Well, what about Adora or Hot Rod?" Bow looked around, but he couldn't find any trace of either. "Where'd they go?"

"Adora woke up in the middle of the night and left to check something out. Hot Rod went with her."

Glimmer finally got up and left with them to meet up with Adora and Hot Rod, who were staring into the distance.

"What's going on?" Arcee asked.

"Don't know." Hot Rod said. "Adora said something might be wrong. Didn't say anything else."

"Sorry, guys." Adora said. "I can't help but think we're being followed."

"I think you're still on edge after what happened at Dryl." Arcee said. "We all are. I mean, that virus made us defenseless."

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Yeah, Fixit said he got rid of the disk for good." Bow said. "So there's no need to worry about that."

"You just need to relax." Glimmer said. "That's why we're going to Mystacor."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that." Hot Rod said. "What's Mystacor?"

"It's a secret location filled with powerful sorcerers." Glimmer explained. "It's got a beautiful beach. Relaxing springs. And the best part is, my Aunt Castaspella is the head sorceress there. She'd be thrilled to meet you."

"Don't forget Sari." Bow said.

"Oh, how could I?" Glimmer asked. "She's my cousin and she's basically the life of the party."

"Sounds fun." Hot Rod said. "Between the princesses, Decepticons, Horde, and rogue robots, we must be in need of some R&R."

"How far is Mystacor?" Arcee asked.

"Not too far." Glimmer said.

* * *

"Almost." Knock Out said as he put the finishing touches on the side of Soundwave's head. "Aaaaaaaand… done. It's all set."

Soundwave sat upwards caressing where Knock Out tinkered. Knock Out took a few steps back before meeting up with Starscream.

"And you're sure this will work?" Starscream asked.

"Well, we won't know for certain until the next time Catra…"

"Hey." Catra called as her face suddenly appeared on Soundwave's monitor. "Just gotta tell… Wait, is something different?"

"Ah, Catra. What perfect timing." Starscream said. "We just synced your communication pad with Soundwave's visor."

"Why?" Catra asked.

"Well, it's certainly a lot better than having to squint at the tiny pad you gave us." Starscream said. "Not to worry though. All is forgiven."

"I didn't ask for forgiveness." Catra said. "I didn't apologize and I never will."

"Well, what are you calling about? Is Shadow Weaver sending you an another Adora mission?"

"Nope. She says that this time, she's going to get her herself. She said she and the Autobots were heading to a place called Mystacor."

"Do you know where that is?" Starscream asked.

"Not exactly." Catra said. "But I did peek where Adora was and I know that area. Perhaps you can do something there before Shadow Weaver makes you all obsolete."

"Pfft." Starscream scoffed. "Shadow Weaver. She thinks she can just decide to do things of her own will. I bet if Hordak found out what she was up to, he'd…" He stopped himself. He paused in thought. "Hold on. You said Shadow Weaver was going herself, right?"

"That's what she told me." Catra replied.

Starscream chuckled. "Then this will be a good chance to get back at her for dismissing us like nothing. Soundwave, I have a job for you."

* * *

At the end of the forest, the rebels and Autobots stood on top of a cliff.

"We're nearly there." Glimmer said excitedly.

Hot Rod took a glance at the clouds hovering below. "Where? Certain death?"

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Of course, we don't see Mystacor now," Bow said, "But that's because the sorcerers keep a magical barrier to keep out the Horde."

"Watch this." Glimmer said. She grabbed Bow's hand and they both immediately jumped off.

"WHOA, WAIT!" Arcee shouted. She tried to grab the two, but they were just out of reach. They disappeared in the fog leaving their friends.

"I didn't expect that." Hot Rod commented.

"Guys!" Glimmer's voice called from below. She and Bow emerged from the fog with the help of a floating piece of land. "Hop on!"

Still stunned by what they saw, the four of them proceeded and hoped onto the piece of land. On the way there a black shape floated along, but disappeared in the fog. It startled Adora who fell on the ground.

"Ooh." Hot Rod said. "I give it an 8.5. Next time, you gotta stick the landing."

"Didn't you guys see that?" Adora asked.

"See what?" Arcee asked.

"The… smoke thing." Adora said. "I scary shadow or…"

"Adora, calm down." Glimmer said. "You just need a relaxing trip. And that's why we're here."

Deciding to take Glimmer's advice, Adora took a breath and proceeded on the rock, which eventually brought them to the floating island with a big castle at the center.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Yep." Bow answered. "Welcome to Mystacor."

When the rock landed, a woman approached them. She had on a purple cape and had a halo above her head.

"Glimmer!" she greeted hugging the princess. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

"Hey, Aunt Cass." Glimmer said before she teleported out of her arms.

"And Bow!" Castaspella said. "How are you?"

"Pretty good."

"And you must be Adora and the aliens." Castaspella said.

"We prefer Autobots, ma'am." Arcee said.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"I'm sorry. What?" Castaspella asked.

"It's just the way he talks." Bow said. "I managed to learn it."

"Oh, you've always been a smart one." Castaspella said. "You know, when I first heard that Glimmer made her first friend, I was sure she was making it up."

"Okay, okay!" Glimmer said suddenly. "Let's not dig more into that!"

"Says you." Hot Rod said. "I'd like to hear more embarrassing stories about Glimmer."

"Well, not a lot to say since she rarely visits." Castaspella replied. "Like mother, like daughter. You know, I sent Angella hundreds of letters, but she never once replied. Anyway, Glimmer, would you and your friends like a tour?"

"Actually, we've already had the tour, Aunt Cass. We just want to relax."

"Well, Adora hasn't had the tour and neither did your giant robot friends. Would you be interested?"

"Um…" Adora pondered even though Glimmer was giving nonverbal signs saying no. "Sssssure?"

"I like this one." Castaspella said.

Castaspella lead the six through the hallways showing the rooms. Eventually, the tour led them to a large, circular room with diamond-shaped lenses covering the walls and a hole in the ceiling. But before the sorceress could say any more, everyone was staring at the young, red-headed girl aiming her broom like a gun and swinging it like a sword.

"Bam! Bam! Swish! Clang! You want some of this? Ha! Do not underestimate me, Hordak, for I am Sari of Mystacor, daughter of Castaspella, and hero of magic… NOW EAT THIS, SUCKA! BOOM!"

"Sari!" Castaspella shouted to get her daughter's attention. The red-head panicked and turned around with a bright-red blush on her face.

"Oh, hey, Mom." Sari said. "Glimmer. Bow. How long were you standing there?"

"Too long." Hot Rod said.

Sari noticed the people she never met, and cheered in excitement. "OH, MY GOSH! You're She-Ra and the Autobots!"

"You know us?" Adora asked.

"Oh, right. I'm Sari, Glimmer's cousin. She talks about you all the time."

"Sari." Castaspella repeated. "Were you just daydreaming having a magic battle again?"

"Maybe. So what? It's not like it's a crime."

"Sorry, you know how I feel about this. You're not ready for magic."

"That's not fair! A bunch of kids are already in magic school, and they're younger than I am."

"Fine." Castaspella shrugged. "Is that's what you want, be my guest. I mean, I'm just your mother. What do I know?"

"Mom, please don't do this." Sari said. "You always do this." She sighed one last time before she stormed out.

"Sorry you had to see that." Castaspella said.

"Aunt Cass, why can't you just give Sari a few magic lessons?" Glimmer asked.

"You wouldn't understand."

Arcee took a look around the room and observed the lenses. "What's this room for?"

"It's for our ceremony." Castaspella answered. "Every month, we collect moonlight with these lenses to strengthen the magical barrier that hides Mystacor. In fact, you just made it to see it tonight."

"That's all great, Aunt Cass," Glimmer said, "But we really gotta relax and… Wait." She looked around. "Where's Adora?"

Adora saw a suspicious shape enter the hallway. She was worried and followed it. Once she entered the hallway, she came across a row of large statues. They were shaped like different people. The others found here among them.

"Oh, I see you came across our Hall of Sorcerers." Castaspella said.

"Your hall of what?" Hot Rod asked.

"This was made to commemorate the greatest sorcerers who ever walked these halls. Even Micah, my brother, who was among the greatest of us."

"Wait." Adora said. "King Micah was your brother?"

"Adora, do you not know what an aunt is?" Bow asked.

"No. I was hoping someone would tell me."

"What about this one?" Hot Rod asked pointing at a woman statue with a veil. "It's all shadowy and overgrown."

"That's the dark part of Mystacor history. This is Light Spinner. She was one of our teachers until she became greedy for power. Then, one day, she just disappeared."

"Well, that's ominous." Hot Rod said.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"What do you mean foreshadowing?" Hot Rod asked.

* * *

Everyone tried to relax on the beach, but Adora wasn't comfortable at all. Instead of just laying there, Adora made some slight animal noises with her mouth. Unfortunately, her friends noticed.

"This isn't working for you, is it?" Hot Rod asked.

"Honestly, I don't see how it works for you." Adora said. "I mean, you're alien robots and your planet got destroyed. How can you possibly relax?"

"It's better than just being a worrying stiff." Hot Rod answered. "I'm sure you can.."

"WHAT'S THAT!" Adora shouted springing up to her feet. Everyone got up with her.

"What's what?" Arcee asked.

Adora looked around the sky, but saw nothing but clouds. "Didn't you see it?"

"See what?" Bow asked

"The bird."

"You freaked out because of a bird?" Glimmer asked. "You need this vacation more than I thought."

"No, this bird was different. It was big and.. I think it was shiny."

"That was probably the sun glare." Hot Rod said.

"Clearly, we need to take to take this relaxation thing to the next level." Glimmer said. "Bow, we need to show Adora and the Autobots the steam grotto."

"Woo! Steam grotto!" Bow cheered

"What's the steam grotto?" Arcee asked.

* * *

Arcee got her answer a few minutes later when they entered an entire room of pools and tubs. The water inside of them were steaming up. Adora was admiring it while Glimmer and Bow dipped themselves in the water.

"So you just sit in these hot waters and just relax?" Arcee asked.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"I agree with you, Bee." Hot Rod said. "This steam does wonders on my chassis too."

"The pools are full of magic minerals." Glimmer said guiding Adora to a pool. "Sorcerers use them to cleanse themselves of worry and fear. Sorry there's nothing big enough for you Autobots, though."

"That's okay." Hot Rod said. "If anything, we're looking much shinier."

For the next few minutes, Adora was feeling bliss. She laid in those waters smiling at her friends. All her worries were put to rest… until the steam before her started to turn black and an ominous, familiar voice came from it.

"Adora."

Adora shouted as she jumped from the pool. Her freak out surprised all of her friends. Adora grabbed her sword, but the black steam disappeared right before her friends could notice.

"Adora, what happened?" Hot Rod asked.

"Is everyone all right?" Arcee asked.

"Why is your sword here?" Bow asked.

"I'm sorry." Adora said putting down her sword. "But I swear, Shadow Weaver was here. I'm sure I saw her in the Sorcerer's Hall too."

"Shadow Weaver?" Hot Rod asked. "Wait, you mentioned her before. She's… that Horde woman who raised you and Catra, right?"

"Yes." Adora said.

"Adora, she isn't here." Glimmer assured.

"Sounds like this Shadow Weaver's left quite an impression on you." Arcee said. "I've seen this before on Cybertron."

"Look, everything's okay now." Bow said. "You got away from her. Do you wanna try something else?"

"Sorry." Adora said. "I think I just need to clear my head."

"I understand." Hot Rod said. "Come on, guys."

Adora was left alone. She then overheard voices sounding like her friends calling her crazy. She left to confront the voices, but there was no one there, leaving Adora to question herself.

Adora went into the Sorcerer's Hall, but was attacked by a shadow figure from the ground. She changed into She-Ra and kept her guard up. She then heard Catra's voice coming from the Lunarium Chamber. She followed it inside. She then heard Hordak's voice trying to scare her growing more doubt. Out of fear, Adora was about to swing her sword at where she tought Hordak was… until she couldn't move.

Adora opened her eyes and looked down on here. A bright-blue glow wrapped around her entire body Sari revealed herself with a glowing blue hand pointed at Adora.

"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. So very sorry."

"Sari?" Adora asked.

"Yes. That's what I said, I… Oh, you meant my name. Right. Look, I'm going to lift the spell and you're going to calm down, right?"

Adora took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Good."

Sari clenched her fist and the glow diminished. She-Ra changed back into Adora.

"What happened?" Sari asked. "I mean, you saw how my mom reacted when I was the one horseplaying here earlier. You, you've got an actual weapon. You'd really mess everything up."

"I'm really sorry." Adora said. "I know everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I swear, Shadow Weaver is here. She's been playing mind games with me all day."

"Uh, who's Shadow Weaver?" Sari asked.

"Hordak's second-in-command and a powerful sorceress." Adora explained. "I know it sounds nuts, but she must have infiltrated Mystacor somehow and…"

"Okay, okay." Sari said. "Look, how about we talk about this over a good drink?"

Sari grabbed Adora's hand and pulled her away from the chamber. Behind them, the shadow figure crept out of the corner and shot an angry glare.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Autobots were pacing just outside in the fields. Arcee approached Hot Rod and Bumblebee.

"Well, I managed to talk with Castaspella. She's agreed to help us harvest the Energon crystals around here."

"You know, guys, I've been thinking." Hot Rod said. He noticed that Arcee and Bumblebee gave him a surprised stare. "What?"

"You, thinking?" Arcee asked.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Shut up. Anyways, we've been collecting Energon in basically every kingdom we've come across, but did no one ever question where this Energon kept coming from?"

Bumblebee buzzed.

"I know, they came from the ground. But look, the Energon count on this planet is a thousand times bigger than we find on any other planet in the universe. How could there be this much on a planet that's so very far from Cybertron? I mean, we had to take that wormhole just to get here."

"I do understand your point." Arcee said. "Still, we can't just waste our time with theories. We need to…"

"GUYS!" Bow came in running and screaming his head off.

"Bow, what's going on?" Arcee asked.

"Something's happening!" Bow shouted. "We need to leave as soon as possible!"

"What about the others?" Hot Rod asked. "Glimmer and Adora!"

"They're already ahead of us!" Bow shouted. "Let's go, we have no time to lose!"

Bumblebee buzzed.

"I don't know what that was, but we need to leave!"

Those words made Hot Rod stop. He stared at Bow with suspicion.

"What's going on?" Bow asked. "I told you, we need to go!"

"Right." Hot Rod said. "But first, Bumblebee, say something."

Bumblebee buzzed with confusion in his tone.

"Well, Bow," Hot Rod said, "What did Bumblebee just say?"

"How would I know?" Bow asked.

That's when Hot Rod raised his cannon and came to a conclusion. "You're not Bow. The real Bow would've understood what Bee said."

"You're right." Arcee said sharing his suspicion along with the scout. "Who are you?"

"You know, Adora might not have been too far off about her Shadow Weaver theory." Hot Rod said. "Isn't that right, Shadow Weaver?"

"Bow" chuckled before revealing his true form. The shadow figure had Shadow Weaver's voice.

"So smart, for a bunch of alien machines." The figure flew out across the field.

"Get her!" Arcee commanded.

The figure darted over the grass and lawn until she flew into a large bunker. The Autobots followed, but as soon as they ran in, the shadow slipped out the door it just came from and slid the door shut trapping the three of them in there.

"Well, this is embarrassing." Hot Rod said.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Bee's right." Arcee said. "We need to stop her. The kids could be in trouble."

* * *

"So let me get this straight." Sari said as she delivered a cup of tea to Adora. "You were once a Horde soldier who was raised by Shadow Weaver, Hordak's sorceress. Then, you found the sword, realized the Horde was evil, met my cousin and the Autobots around the same time, and now, you're feeling pressured by it all."

"Basically, yes." Adora said. "I know I kinda freaked out at the chamber earlier, but something about Shadow Weaver really messes with my head."

"I'm no psychologist, but maybe it has something to do with how you left things." Sari said. "When's the last time you saw Shadow Weaver… outside of Mystacor, I mean."

"Well, it was before I found the sword." Adora said. "She told me Hordak was promoting me to Force Captain. After that, I didn't really talk to her."

"Sounds like you've got some unfinished business with her. Look, if you insist that this crazy witch was stalking you all day, then I'll believe you, but it wouldn't hurt to consider the possibility that she's now at the front of your mind."

"Maybe. Thanks, Sari. By the way, how did you freeze me up like that? I thought you didn't know any magic."

"What I said was, I never went to magic school. My mom wasn't willing to teach me, so I had to self-teach myself. I see other kids outside my room practicing their spells, and I mimic them."

"Sounds like it takes a lot of practice."

"Actually, it didn't. For some reason, if I could see it once, I could be able to use it without much effort."

"Really? How?"

"I don't know. Look, just don't tell my mother. She'll be furious if she found out about…"

Suddenly, a strong force of black shade covered the nearby tower outside. Not only that, but the barrier surrounding the city began to fail. People were screaming from the tower.

"That came from the Lunarium." Sari said. "The protection spell is fading!"

And like that, Adora and Sari jumped from their chairs and followed the screams. As soon as the two of them entered the chamber, they found it nearly darkened and everyone there, including Castaspella, Glimmer, and Bow, were unconscious. There were also broken shards of lunar lenses on the floor.

"What's happening?" Sari asked.

The two of them gaped when they saw the shadow that Adora's been seeing earlier. Only now, the shadow had taken the form of its master, Shadow Weaver.

"Adora."

"Shadow Weaver, I presume?" Sari asked.

Suddenly, Shadow Weaver created a shadow wall between Adora and Sari pushing the latter to the side.

"Sari!" Adora gasped.

"The eclipse is nearly over, Adora." Shadow Weaver said. "When it is, the shield will be down. The Horde will conquer Mystacor and bring you home to me."

"No. I'll stop you!" Adora defied.

"Why?" Shadow Weaver asked. "To help these people? The aliens? Who are they to you? They don't understand you. Just as they did not understand me when I walked among them as Light Spinner. They feared my dark power. They'll never accept you. Not like I do."

"No! You're wrong!" Adora whipped out her sword. "For the honor of Grayskull!" She shouted her chant, but to her surprise, the sword didn't light up. She didn't change.

"You know deep down what I say is true. You are the ambitious, cutthroat, ruthless warrior I raised you to be."

"No. Everyone know that I'm different!"

"Like who? Those alien machines who have stuck their metal noses where they are not wanted? The princesses who are too weak to understand true power? They don't care about you. They want to use you for your strength."

"Projecting!" Sari shouted as she jumped over the shadows and confronted the evil sorceress. "Don't say we don't care about her and only see her as a weapon. You're the one who wants to take advantage of her!"

"This does not concern you, child." Shadow Weaver warned. "Leave while you still breathe."

"Adora, you're much more than a warrior to us." Sari said. "Every letter Glimmer sent me tells me everything about you. You're a good person who only thinks about herself last. You're a hero who inspires hope to everyone around her."

"Don't listen to her, Adora." Shadow Weaver said. "Return to the Fright Zone! Rule by my side!"

The villainess' words fell on deaf ears. Adora backed further away from Shadow Weaver and clutched her sword even tighter.

"Bow. Glimmer. Hot Rod. Sari. Everyone. They're my friends. They've been kind to me. Something you never were."

"I prepared you for greatness!"

"But you never loved me. You just played your twisted mind games. Sari's right. I'm none of the things that you say I am. I'm not like you. You are bitter and cruel, and you're the one who used me. This is who I am."

"Yeah! Go, Adora!" Sari cheered.

"Silence, you brat!" Shadow Weaver shouted as she fired a shadow from her hand.

It was aimed at Sari, but the spunky pre-teen held out her hand and a shield of light appeared in front of her protecting her from the blast.

"Adora, find a way to realign the lenses!" Sari shouted. "I'll keep her distracted!"

"Sari, you can't. She's a master sorceress."

"The eclipse will be over in moments! Unless we complete the ceremony, it won't matter if we stop her since we can't finish it for another month!"

Adora knew she was right. She went up, when all of a sudden, her sword changed. It became a golden shield with the jewel at the center. Without questioning it, Adora continued upward.

Shadow Weaver went for another strike, but Sari repositioned the light shield before launching it at Shadow Weaver's face nearly disorienting her.

"You pitiful brat! Who do you think you are?"

This was Sari's chance. And she didn't waste it. "Do not underestimate me, Shadow Weaver, for I am Sari of Mystacor, daughter of Castaspella, and hero of magic… NOW EAT THIS, SUCKA!"

Sari immediately shot an array of light blasts that Shadow Weaver dodged and countered. Sari dodged and rolled out of the way while Adora jumped towards the path of the eclipse light. Within time, Sari nearly fell clumsily and Shadow Weaver wrapped her shades around her and lift her up.

"Hero of magic, indeed." Shadow Weaver taunted squeezing Sari. "Did you really think a child like you could possibly beat me?"

"I didn't have to beat you." Sari said with a smile on her face. "I just had to keep you distracted."

Shadow Weaver widened her eyes and looked back at Adora, who held her shield to the eclipse light. Rainbow glares bounced off of it.

"NO!" Shadow Weaver shouted. She dropped Sari and flew off in Adora's direction.

Finding herself free, Sari decided to make one last shot at Shadow Weaver. She closed her eyes, balled up her hands, and formed a ball made of light. Castaspella managed to regain enough consciousness to notice. She struck a pitcher's pose and threw it like a baseball. Shadow Weaver noticed the projectile, but was too late. It hit her in the face which knocked her off course.

That gave Adora the time she needed. She collected the light she needed and shot it all over the room. Shadow Weaver disappeared when the wave hit her and the barrier was restored.

Everyone emerged from their unconscious state seeing everything back in order. Adora slid back down to greet her friends. Hot Rod, Arcee, and Bumblebee came in as well.

"Adora, are you okay?" Glimmer asked.

"I'm okay." Adora answered. "She's gone."

"I'm so sorry we didn't believe you." Bow apologized. "We've been bad friends."

"Sorry we couldn't be here, kid." Hot Rod said. "Your sorry excuse for a mother-figure sealed us away."

"Don't worry, guys." Adora said. "This is what Shadow Weaver does. She manipulates people and pushes them apart."

"Well, I'm proud of you being stronger than that." Hot Rod said.

"Actually, if I'm being honest, it wasn't all me." Adora said.

Castaspella looked at Sari and approached her. "So, when were you planning on telling me you knew magic?"

Realizing she had been caught, Sari confessed. "I'm sorry, mom. I know you wanted me away from all that, but I couldn't help myself."

Castaspella sighed. She guided her daughter to the Sorcerer's Hall and stopped at Micah's statue. "I'm sorry too. I suppose I have been a bit harsh pushing you away from all that. The truth is, your Uncle Micah was a great sorcerer. One of the best. But in the end, he didn't make it. Despite all that, he was killed. I see that same potential in you, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you. If I'm being hard on you, it's because I love you."

Sari smiled. "I love you too, Mom. So does this mean I can go to magic school."

"…We'll see. Still, that spell you threw at Shadow Weaver was impressive. How long did you practice that?"

"Actually, the truth is, that was my first time." Sari said.

"Really? How?"

"I don't know. I saw it, and I knew how to do it. I can't really explain how. It's like some kind of impulse in my head."

"Wow. You really are amazing."

After that, the people of Mystacor praised the Autobots and Rebellion for saving them. Castaspella promised to knit each of them a sweater (though it would be tricky to make one that fits the Cybertronians). Later on, everyone rested up at the beach. And it was the best rest Adora ever had.

* * *

Catra left the Black Garnet Chamber with Shadow Weaver trying to recover from her fight. As soon as she knew she was alone, Catra held up her com pad and called her Decepticon partner.

"Starscream, what exactly happened?" Catra asked. "Apparently, none of you guys showed up in Mystacor."

"Not true." Starscream replied. "One of us were."

"Really? Because Shadow Weaver didn't say anything about seeing a Decepticon, and I think she would have noticed something that big. All she talked about was failing to get Adora and fighting some little sorceress girl." Suddenly, a large bird made entirely of metal flew in Starscream's side of the call and hooked itself to the computers. "What is that?"

"This is Laserbeak. He's Soundwave's companion who he sends for recon missions. And apparently, this has been a productive day."

"What do you mean?" Catra asked.

Suddenly, video clips appeared on the screen. In each of them, Shadow Weaver was either stalking Adora or engaging with the Autobots.

"I told Soundwave to have Laserbeak tail Shadow Weaver. His job was to record Shadow Weaver's actions and, inevitably, her humiliating defeat."

"I admit, that does sound entertaining," Catra said, "But how does that help us?"

"Think about it. Shadow Weaver doesn't want your master, Hordak, to know about us and he ordered her to stop trying to get back her 'prized' pupil. If we choose the right time—which I hope is very soon—we'll show this footage to Hordak letting him see how his second-in-command has been disobeying his orders and going behind his back. If this doesn't push that vile witch over the brink, she'll be very close to it."

Catra smiled. "A chance to discredit Shadow Weaver? I like the way you think."

Starscream chuckled along with her. "Before you know it, Shadow Weaver will be sorry she ever crossed us."

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Another long chapter done. And next time, as most of you know, we will be at the turning point._

_Any and all comments are welcome._


	8. Autobot Prom

With a scroll in her hand, Adora knocked onto Glimmer's door knowing she and Bow were on the other side.

"Hey, guys. Could you help me with something? I just got something in the mail. It appears to be an invitation to something called 'the All-Princess Ball'. I was wondering…"

Suddenly, the door slammed open revealing Bow and Glimmer's happy faces.

"THE ALL-PRINCESS BALL?" They asked loudly

The two of them then cheered out in excited tones. During the squealing, Hot Rod peeked in through the window.

"What was that I just hear?" he asked.

"Hot Rod!" Glimmer cheered taking Adora's scroll. She held it up. "Get a look at this!"

Hot Rod squinted his eyes. "Well, that's definitely a piece of paper. Though, I can't really see what's written on it. Which reminds me, could you people please remodel this castle for Cybertronians?"

"Oops." Glimmer said. "Sorry, Rod."

"Adora got an invitation to the All-Princess Ball!" Bow said.

"What's an All-Princess Ball?" Hot Rod asked. "Is that like some sort of ceremonial orb with all the princess' signatures or something?"

"…No, but that sounds cool." Bow replied.

"Yeah, I'm a little lost too." Adora said.

"The All-Princess Ball is a traditional party where every princess is invited." Glimmer explained. "They only hold it once every ten years…" She looks at the invitation. "And it looks like it's going to be a Winter Wonderland theme hosted by Princess Frosta."

"Princess Frosta?" Adora asked. "She rules the largest kingdom on Etheria."

"Really? How come we didn't go to her sooner?" Hot Rod asked.

"Princess Frosta is known to be a bit… stubborn." Glimmer said. "Doesn't really want help if she doesn't need it."

"The Horde's left her kingdom alone because it's out of their way." Adora said. "But in a matter of time, they will attempt to go for it."

"So while we're there, we can ask for her to join the Rebellion." Glimmer said. "And Adora, like every invited princess, you are allowed to bring a plus one."

"So… I can bring Hot Rod?" Adora asked.

"I don't see why not." Glimmer said.

"Sounds fun." Hot Rod said. "Man, I haven't been to a proper party in centuries."

"Really?" Bow asked.

"Not really much to celebrate when war tears your home planet apart. Anyway, does this mean the rest of you are bringing your own Autobot partners with you?"

"Not Bow." Glimmer said. "Technically, he's not a princess, so he wasn't invited. But I still plan on bringing him as my plus one."

"Actually…" Bow said nervously.

"Sure, it means Arcee and Bumblebee have to be left behind, but it's just a a party. It'll be fine." Glimmer continued.

"The thing is…" Bow tried to say again.

"But with the four of us, we'll have the best time ever!" Glimmer declared.

"I'm going with Perfuma!" Bow admitted finally.

That caught Glimmer by surprise. "WHAT?!"

* * *

Catra sighed as she turned on her comms pad. Starscream answered on the other side.

"How's it going, Catra?" Starscream asked. "Is now a good time to make our move?"

"Not exactly." Catra said. "Look, I've got something to show you, but I kinda need you not to flip out."

"Flip out?" Starscream asked. "Why would I freak out?"

Catra didn't reply. She only turned the pad to her right… where Scorpia was sitting on her bed gazing happily at the pad.

"Oh, hi." Scorpia greeted. "You must be Starscream."

…

"Catra… take a moment… and think about what you're doing." Starscream said trying not to get angry.

"Look, I had no choice." Catra explained. "I can't go through with this deal of ours on my own. I need an extra set of hands… or in Scorpia's case, pincers. Don't worry. She's already proven to be loyal to me and said she'll help."

"Yeah." Scorpia said. "If this Megatron guy is coming like Catra said, I don't wanna die if he doesn't like us. Besides, it's nice to finally be included in her life."

Starscream groaned. "Fine. So, Catra, anything else to report? Megatron's due any day now."

"I heard you." Catra said. "Look, if we show that video about Shadow Weaver now, she'll find a way to twist the truth. I need to be more valuable to Hordak before I show him anything. But Shadow Weaver won't let me do anything that doesn't involve Adora."

"I see your predicament." Starscream said. "And as long as Shadow Weaver has more merit, she won't let us anywhere near Hordak."

"Why don't we just do something at the All-Princess Ball?" Scorpia asked holding up a scroll and catching Catra and Starscream by surprise. "Every princess is going to be there, so Adora will be too."

"What the?" Catra asked. "How did you get an invite?"

"They sent it to me." Scorpia replied. "I'm a princess."

"You're a princess?!" Catra asked in surprise.

"Just when I thought I couldn't hate princesses any more." Starscream grumbled

"Yeah. Didn't you know?" Scorpia said. "The Horde crashed in my kingdom. We let them stay. My grandfather gave Hordak our Black Garnet. They covered this in Force Captain orientation."

"I'm starting to wish I hadn't skipped that orientation." Catra said.

"So if Adora's going to be at some party," Starscream said, "Then she might be vulnerable."

"Right." Catra said. "Scorpia, you go, and you take me as your plus one."

"Oh, I can't go." Scorpia said. "I mean, I know the invite was meant for me, but it's just a formality. No one really liked my family, even before we joined the Horde. I'd never fit in."

Catra looked down for a minute. Then, she smiled and glared at her. "And that's why you have to go. How dare they pretend they're better than you just because you're different! How dare they abandon people just because they don't fit into their perfect little lives?"

Scorpia smiled. "Yeah.

"How dare they take best friends and turn them into giant sword ladies who run off with people clearly inferior to you?" Catra continued.

"You just described my whole life in those words." Scorpia said.

"She did?" Starscream asked.

"Right!" Scorpia said. "I'll go get outfits!" She ran out of the room.

"Well done, Force Captain Catra." Starscream said giving his partner a proud grin.

"Piece of cake." Catra responded.

"So while you and bug girl are mingling at this 'princess prom' or whatever, where do we fit in this?" Starscream asked. "I mean, we still have to prove ourselves to Hordak?"

"Don't worry about it." Catra responded looking over the scroll. "If I'm reading these rules right, I believe we can use this to our advantage."

* * *

"I'm sorry." Bow said to Glimmer as they walked outside in the courtyard. "She asked me to the ball. And what was I going to say, no?"

"When did she even ask you?" Glimmer asked.

"Oh, she was really slick." Bow answered.

* * *

**_A few weeks ago, during the fight at the Horde base near Plumeria._**

_ "__Do you wanna go to the ball with me?" Perfuma asked all of a sudden._

_ "__Okay." Bow answered instantly._

* * *

"That was slick?" Glimmer asked.

"I thought it'd be fun." Bow said. "And besides, Perfuma's cool, right?"

"She's fine." Glimmer said. "But we always go to events together. We have our whole routine. We wear matching outfits, we share inside jokes, and eat ice cream afterwards. It's our thing."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with a new thing." Bow replied. "And hey, this means you can invite Arcee as your plus one. I gotta get ready. We'll hang out there, okay?" He turned round and left Glimmer feeling sad.

"But I liked our old thing."

Just then, Adora arrived and grabbed Glimmer's shoulder. "Glimmer! Good. The Autobots and I have been talking in the courtyard. Let's go."

Adora dragged Glimmer outside. There, the three Autobots (Hot Rod, Arcee, and Bumblebee) had gathered around a chalkboard covered with notes about the prom.

"What's this?" Glimmer asked.

"Hey, it's Adora's idea." Hot Rod said.

"Gotta say, I'm starting to admire her preparation skills." Arcee said.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Bee's right, Arcee." Hot Rod said. "You gotta admit this is going a bit overboard."

"I don't want to mess this up." Adora said. "I think advance prep will be the key to success. I've divided the rules into base parts. Dance rules, etiquette rules, rules for greeting the hostesss. I'm familiarizing with targets."

"Targets?" Hot Rod asked.

"Ask me anything."

"Uh… okay." Arcee said. "Um… Princess Frosta."

Adora went to the images she pinned to the board and connected by strings. "Ruler of the Kingdom of Snows, has the biggest kingdom outside of Bright Moon, neutral in the fight against the Horde. Allies with the Star Sisters who are friends with Mermista, but not Sweet Bee who is dating Peekablue. I'm prepared for any and all scenarios. I am so ready for this ball."

"Oh, yeah?" Hot Rod asked. "Then what are you wearing?"

"I was just going to go as She-Ra." Adora said. "I mean, she has better hair."

"Actually, you can't go as She-Ra." Glimmer pulled out an extra slot of paper hidden in the invite scroll. "They have a strict no-weapons rule. Neutral ground and all. So you'll have to leave your sword at the door."

"No weapons?" Arcee asked. "Well, that might be a problem."

"What? Why?" Hot Rod asked. Arcee didn't say anything. Instead, she switched her hand around and swapped it for her laser from the inside of her arm. "Oh, I see."

"Exactly." Arcee said. "Every Autobot comes with weapons inside their bodies ever since the war."

"Can't you just remove them?" Adora asked.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Exactly. We don't have the time nor the resources." Arcee said.

"Well, that's a rotten inconvenience." Hot Rod said. "Sorry, kids. You'll have to attend it without us."

"This party is even more strict than I thought." Adora said.

"Yeah." Glimmer said. Then, her eyes widened. "Hold on! I think I know the plus one to bring with me!"

* * *

For the next few hours, Adora and Glimmer had begun finding the right dresses to wear. Meanwhile, Catra and Scorpia were doing the same while plotting. As soon as Glimmer had finished dressing her and Adora up, her plus one had arrived: her cousin, Sari. They got her dressed up for the dance too. And right when they were done, they headed for the Kingdom of Snows.

* * *

The ballroom was packed with colorful guests mingling with each other. At the entrance, Glimmer and Sari were waiting for Adora to properly give her sword to the front desk.

"I know She-Ra needs that sword, but does Adora really baby it that much?" Sari asked.

"No kidding." Glimmer said. "If she says to keep it fed, I'm gonna have to call her a professional."

"I heard that." Adora said as she finished handing out her sword and approached them.

The three of them went across the ballroom and headed to the area where the guards are forming. The two of them approached the royal throne and gave proper three-second bows. When she raised her head back up, she was stunned at the princess sitting on the throne: a young girl as tall as Sari.

"That's Princess Frosta?" Adora asked. "But she's like ten."

"I'm eleven and a half." Frosta corrected in a stoic tone. "Welcome to the All-Princess Ball."

"Revered hostess," Glimmer presented, "I am Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon accompanied by my cousin, Sari of Mystacor, along with someone else you invited, the legendary She-Ra."

"The three of you are welcome so long as you follow proper etiquette." Frosta said. "Enjoy the party."

Adora was about to thank her, but that's when the guards escorted the three of them back onto the ballroom floor.

"Well, she's the life of the party." Sari said sarcastically.

"Why didn't anyone tell me the princess was a kid?" Adora asked.

"You did all that research. I assumed you knew." Glimmer responded.

"What's the big deal?" Sari asked. "So she's almost my age. I can think of about fifty worse things she could be. For now, I wanna see what my first big party is like."

"Might as well." Glimmer said.

The three of them began to look around when something caught Adora's eye. A little man rolled through the crowd, only it wasn't a man. It a certain glitchy Minicon.

"Fixit?" Adora asked.

The orange Minicon stopped and turned to Adora. "Oh, hey, guys! How's it going?"

"Fixit?" Glimmer repeated. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking out this Eth-Eth-Eth…" SMACK! "Etherian party."

"So this is the handy-dandy Fixit?" Sari asked. "He's a lot more adorable than you described, Glimmer."

"How are you here?" Adora asked. "Wouldn't it be breaking the rules if Autobots came here with weapons in them?"

"Oh, that's an easy fix." Fixit said. "You see, for someone my size, all I had were a few lasers. Wait, phasers? No, tasers! That's it. I just had some tasers. After Entrapta got invited to this ball, she helped me be able to get in my removing those tasers."

"And Princess Frosta just let you in?" Adora asked.

"Well, she said that every princess, including Entrapta, is welcome to bring any plus one, even if they're from another planet. Plus, she wanted me to explain to her who we Autobots were. Thankfully, once I told her about the Energon crystals, she was convinced to ship them evenly to every kingdom with an Autobot."

"Really?" Glimmer asked. "That's great!"

"What about the rebellion?" Adora asked. "Did you convince her to join too?"

"The topic did come up," Fixit answered, "But she said she has no need to join. Said the Kingdom of Snows is prospering well on its own."

Adora sighed. "Well, guess we'll have to find a way to convince her."

"By the way," Glimmer said, "Where's Entrapta?"

Fixit pointed at a pillar where the long-haired scientist was hanging onto staring at the many guests. "That way."

"Entrapta." Adora said.

"Hello." Entrapta said. "Are you here to watch the social experiment too?"

"The social say-what?" Sari asked.

"It's here where society strengthens or breaks apart." Entrapta explained. "And I can't wait to watch every second of this."

Sari looked at her cousin who simply shrugged. "I did tell you she was a bit strange."

"So where's Bow?" Entrapta asked. "I've got this new recorder I wanna show him."

Glimmer simply frowned. "He'll… be here ahead of us."

"Does that mean he's right ahead?" Fixit asked. "Because he's right there."

Glimmer's eyes widened and looked at the staircase. There, Bow and Princess Perfuma entered the ballroom. Glimmer looked worried as she observed their outfits.

"They're matching? But that's our thing."

"Like, this looks like an awkward position." Mermista said as she appeared.

"Oh, Mermista." Adora said. "How's Salineas?"

"It's… going, I guess." That was Mermista's way of saying everything was fine. "And Seaspray's fitting in well keeping everything stable."

"Never in my life did I hear the words 'Seaspray' and 'stable' in the same sentence." Fixit said.

"Wow! So you're Princess Mermista." Sari said. "Nice to meet you. Did you bring anybody?"

"Oh, yes, she did!" Sea Hawk declared proudly as he emerged from the crowd. His words seemed to annoy Mermista.

"Sea Hawk's your plus one?" Adora asked.

"No. He's just my ride." Mermista said.

"Uh, huh." Sea Hawk said. He leaned in and whispered. "I'm her plus one. Now, to the snacks! Adventure! Oh, hi, Bow."

Sea Hawk passed by Bow as the archer approached his friends with Princess Perfuma beside him. Suddenly, Glimmer gave a bad fake laugh. "Good inside joke, Sari."

"What joke?" Sari asked.

"Hey, Sari." Bow said.

"Hey, Bow." Sari said. "Everything all right?"

"Sure." Bow said. "And Perfuma's doing okay too."

"Yes." Perfuma agreed. "Thanks to Prowl's guidance, my people are doing better than before. And all he asked for in return is the chance to be beside our wonderful plants."

"Sure, whatever." Glimmer responded impatiently. "Isn't this fun? Sari, Adora, and I are having such a great time together. Just us, right, girls?" But as she turned around, Adora was seen eating the hors d'oeuvres.

"Okay." Bow said. "We're just gonna say hi to some people. You wanna come?"

"Oh, no. You guys go on." Glimmer replied trying to hide her impatience. "We'll find you later. I wanna finish hearing this awesome story that Sari was just telling."

"What story?" Sari asked.

Adora stopped eating when she saw Frosta at the buffet table. She and Sari approached her while Glimmer still looked at Bow jealously.

"Revered hostess," Adora addressed. "I've come to apologize earlier. I was so rude."

"Yes, you were." Frosta replied. "But as you're only an honorary princess, you can't be expected to know better." Sari just rolled her eyes. "And now, I expect you're going to ask me to join your Rebellion."

"You know about that?" Adora asked.

"Of course, I do. Princesses talk, you know." A cook came to her with a tray full of food. "The snow peas are touching the cookies. Do it right."

"Princess Frosta, the Rebellion needs you." Adora pleaded. "Your kingdom is the largest and most powerful. Your alliance could be the key to defeating the Horde."

"The Horde hasn't threatened us here."

"Only because the Kingdom of Snows is so out of the way, it doesn't matter to Hordak right now. Joining the Rebellion is obviously your best bet. Besides, there's something just as bad as the Horde coming. An army of evil robots called the Decepticons. If the Horde won't attack you, they will."

"Yes, and I assume you've already got an Autobot for me?" Frost asked. "I've heard of your Autobot Protection Program and I know there are currently six Autobots on Etheria. You've already given three away and you're keeping three others to yourself."

"That's not all." Adora said. "There about a hundred other Autobots on the way right now. Could be here any day."

"Until I meet my own Autobot partner, I'm still not interested. And as for your attack topic, the Kingdom of Snows has defended itself perfectly well for thousands of years. We do not need your help or your Rebellion. Please, continue to enjoy the ball." She walked away.

"Well, that could've turned out better." Sari said.

"Why didn't you say something?" Adora asked.

"What was I supposed to say?" Sari asked.

"You two are about the same age."

"That doesn't mean we have to agree on anything. I'm plucky and adorable. She's cold and picky."

Adora sighed and walked on up with Sari. There, Glimmer looked down on Bow who was still talking with other people.

"Where have you two been?" Glimmer asked.

"Trying to win over Frosta, remember?" Adora asked.

"Trying?" Sari asked. "You mean failing." The two of them watched Glimmer staring sullenly. "You still moping about Bow?"

"I don't get it." Adora said. "Why does that bother you?"

"Well, from the beginning, it was Bow and me." Glimmer explained. "Now, what if he likes his new friends more than me?"

"Hey, it's not just you guys." Sari said. "You've also got me, right?" Glimmer didn't say anything. Sari sighed. "Maybe Frosta is better company after all." She picked herself up and walked away.

"You're worrying over nothing, Glimmer." Adora said. "Trust me. Bow's not the guy who'd leave his old friends behind, and neither am…"

Adora stopped herself gaping at the doorway in shock. She saw the last thing she expected to see: Catra walking in. The Force Captain was gracefully welcomed with Scorpia beside her.

The two of them ran down the stairs to the throne area where Catra and Scorpia were being welcomed by Frosta.

"Revered hostess, you can't let them in here!" Adora protested. "They're from the Horde!"

"Revered hostess, Princess Scoria was invited and she brought me along." Catra returned. "We're merely upholding the rules that I have upmost respect for."

"You do not!" Adora argued.

"Enough!" Frosta exclaimed. "Scorpia is a princess, Horde or not. She is welcome on this neutral ground. My word is final."

The five of them were removed from the throne while Catra looked at Adora smugly. "Having a good time, Adora?"

"Don't think you're getting away with this." Adora said. "I know you're up to something, so I won't take my eyes of you. Wherever the two of you will go, I will follow."

"If you say so." Catra shrugged. She and Scorpia left in two separate directions. "Enjoy the party."

"What?" Adora gasped. "I'll follow Catra. Glimmer, you follow Scorpia."

At the throne, Frosta just sighed. "Teenagers." Just then, her eyes caught a door opening at the far side. Sari walked through it outside of the party area.

* * *

Sari took a deep breath standing alone in the hallway, until she heard the door open up again. Frosta stood there.

"What do you think you're doing here?" she asked. "This place is off limits."

"Can't a girl have a few moments in peace?" Sari asked.

Frosta sighed as she dismissed her guards just outside the door. "Why aren't you in the party?"

"You call that a party?" Sari asked. "It's a bunch of stiff rules and no fun for me. I might as well be back home in Mystacor."

"For your information, I've worked very hard on making this party perfect."

"Perfect?" Sari asked. "I mean, the no-weapon rule, I understand. But do I really have to bow down for three seconds at a certain degree? And the fact that I should keep calling you 'revered hostess'. I don't even know what 'revered' means exactly. And for the record, I like mixing my food. It's a lot more fun."

"This ball only happens once every ten years. This is my first time planning it, which I've been doing for the past year. I'd appreciate it if you don't disrespect everything I put so much work in."

"I'm not." Sari said. "I'm just suggesting maybe you could liven things up a bit. I mean, it's clear you need to loosen up a bit."

"Loosen up?" Frosta asked. "If I do that, everyone will start seeing me as a kid, and I can't have that. You heard Princess Adora earlier. That was her first impression of me."

"Well, to be fair, could you blame her?" Sari asked. "Look, I'm about six months older than you. I'm probably the only person who knows what you're going through."

"Are you now?"

"Yes. My mom's been treating me like a kid all my life. I mean, yeah, I'm a kid, but she thinks I need to be protected and safe. It was only recently that she started seeing me as something more. I don't want that to end, but at the same time, I can't pretend to be something I'm not. I'm a sorceress and a kid. I can be both, just like how you can be both a princess and a kid."

Frosta took a deep breath. "I've worked very hard on this party. I've been trying to make it perfect for the other kingdoms."

"Well, that's your problem." Sari replied. "You try too hard. I mean, isn't there anything you'd like to do that isn't part of the old rules?"

Frosta gazed at the open door to the empty corridor. She thought back with laughter echoing from her memories and smiled.

"Now, that you mention it, there is one thing I always liked to do when I was six."

Frosta entered the open door extending her hand. A wave of cold air shot out of it along with flurries of snow. In only a minute, the entire floor was covered with a blanket of snow.

"All right!" Sari exclaimed. "Now, we're talking!" She and Frosta jumped into the snow to laugh, make snow angels, and even have a snowball fight.

* * *

However, right outside the castle, a green bug flew around the size of a car. It buzzed and complained.

"Waspinator not liking this plan. Waspinator hate the cold. Waspinator…"

"Waspinator should keep his mouth or whatever that is shut!" Catra threatened on the intercom. "Just continue circling the perimeter until further notice."

Catra continued to enjoy the party from the upper floor. She turned to Entrapta who was crouching on the railings looking down. She knew Adora was watching and took a few steps to approach her.

"Get away from her!" Adora shouted.

"Huh?" Entrapta asked. "Oh, hey, Adora." She jumped from the railing and placed her hand on Catra's shoulder. "Have you met my new friend?"

"Your what?" Adora asked.

"Isn't she great?' Entrapta asked. "She brought snacks."

"She stole my food a minute ago and asked me to spy on people for her." Catra explained with a smug grin. "Is this what love feels like?"

"Well, Entrapta," Fixit said coming over with a bag full of small food, "I believe they call these 'hors d'oeuvres'."

"Uh, Fixit." Adora said.

Fixit raised his head to look at the people before him: Adora, Entrapta, and Catra who he responded with "AH! What are you doing…"

"Don't be so surprised, tinkertoy." Catra said. "After all, your partner and I were starting to get along."

Fixit quickly pulled Entrapta away and to Adora.

"Entrapta, you can't trust her." Adora said. "She's from the Horde." Entrapta just stared with a blank expression indicating she had no idea what Adora was talking about. "The enemies of the Rebellion?" Still nothing. "The Rebellion you're a part of?"

"She zapped Adora in the back last month." Fixit said.

"Okay." Entrapta said. "Well, you may want to keep a better eye on her, 'cause she just left."

"What?" Adora asked looking around for Catra. "Grr. I can't keep my eyes off her for one second. Fixit, I need you to search the place to see what she's planning."

"Got it." Fixit said. "I'll find their plan even if I have to turn this whole place pinside brown… westside trout… inside out! That's it." He wheeled away.

Fixit stepped out of the party and entered the front hallway. It was there that he found Bow leaning on the wall sulking.

"Hey, Bow. Everything all right?"

"Not really." Bow replied. "Glimmer's been a bit upset at me all night."

"Why?" Fixit asked.

"She thinks just because I came to this ball with Perfuma, it means she's losing me as a friend. And just a minute ago, she expected me to apologize for it."

"That does seem messed up."

"It's not her fault though. She hasn't had many friends other than Sari and me for years. I guess it makes sense for her to feel this way. We should talk about this later."

"Sounds good. Just one more question. What's that?"

Fixit pointed up at a nearby pillar where a small, circular device had been attached to. Bow examined it and realized there were identical devices on the other pillars to. After a close look, Bow's expression turned to fear.

"They're heat bombs! They're gonna blow!"

"What?" Fixit gasped. "The cat girl! This was her plan! And Adora's too distracted keeping an eye on her!"

"You warn everyone about the bombs." Bow said. "I'll tell the guards and disable them."

"Understood!"

They both ran to different directions. Just then, before he could get far, Fixit stopped himself.

"Hold on." He said aloud. "When did Catra and Scorpia find the time to plant the bombs? Unless…" He gasped. "They're not alone. Bow, wait!"

Fixit turned around and looked around the corner. There, he saw Bow talking to two guards, who then removed their armor revealing themselves to be Horde cadets Lonnie and Kyle. Right behind Bow was Scorpia, who stung him to unconsciousness with her tail. She also had Adora's sword in her claws. That's when Fixit wheeled out.

"Unhand that human right now!" he demanded which got the Horde's attention.

"Or what?" Scorpia asked.

"…That's a good question." Fixit replied. "Well, it doesn't matter! I'm not running while my friend is in danger! I'm here to save him, kick butt, and take names! What's your name?"

Ten seconds later, Fixit found himself tied up alongside Bow.

"Wow." Fixit said embarrassed. "Did anyone see that coming?"

"Yes." Everyone answered.

"Even Kyle saw it coming." Lonnie added.

"Kinda." Kyle agreed.

* * *

Frosta and Sari were laughing as they laid out in the snow. After a good few minutes of a snowball fight, the two were happy.

"That was amazing!" Frosta said. "I haven't had that much fun in over a year!"

"Yeah." Sari agreed. "I'll be honest, between the strict rules and my cousin's moping, I was worried I was gonna have a boring time at this dance. Now, I…"

"Dance?" Frosta asked as she jolted back up. "Oh, no! I completely forgot about the slow dances! I'm supposed to start them!"

"Oh, sorry." Sari said. "Let's head back to the party."

"Right." Frosta said. "Thanks for the fun time, Sari."

The two of them removed themselves from the snow and ran back to the party. The guards escorted the princess back to her throne, where she signaled the start of the slow music and the colorful spotlights over different pairs of guests. Sari looked around and saw Glimmer frowning alone. She went to her and they began dancing.

"What's wrong, cuz?" Sari asked.

"Bow and I got into a fight, and he may not want to be my friend anymore." Glimmer sobbed.

"Is this about Perfuma again?" Sari asked. "Glimmer, Bow can have more than one friend. You know that, right?"

"That's basically what he said." Glimmer said.

"Just because Bow came with someone else, it doesn't mean you're not going to be friends anymore. I just means he has a different friend for different things."

"…You're right. I should be the one to apologize." Glimmer said. "That is, if I can find him."

Suddenly, a loud fight broke out. Across the room, an angry Adora held Catra up by her collar. Everyone just stared in shock.

"What did you do to Bow?" Adora asked.

"Nothing permanent." Catra replied.

Suddenly, Frosta reacted. She held out her hand and an entire wall of ice surrounded Adora separating her from Catra.

"What is the meaning of this?" Frosta asked angrily.

"Adora, what's going on?" Sari asked.

"It's Catra!" Adora called out. "She has Bow!"

"Frosta, I know how this looks," Sari said, "But if Adora says there's a Horde plan going on, I believe her. Please, just give her a chance."

Frosta looked at Sari before gazing at the crowd. She sighed and then looked sternly at Catra. "Normally, this calls for a revoke of Princess Adora's invitation, but I suppose I'll have to look more into this. Catra, Adora claims you kidnapped her friend. Anything you'd like to say?"

"All I wanna say is that you all should clear out before I detonate the heat bombs with this remote." Catra pulled out a small device with a button while the crowd began to gasp in panic.

"No!" Adora shouted.

"Don't do it!" Glimmer added.

"You'll ruin Princess Prom!" Frosta shouted.

"Well, now, I gotta." Catra replied before immediately pressing the button.

Everyone screamed and ducked for the blast… only nothing happened. Everything was the same as before and there was nothing breaking in the distance. Catra just chuckled nervously pressing the button again and again.

"Well, this is embarrassing." Catra said.

"Catra, it is now clear that you and Princess Scorpia wished harm on us!" Frosta exclaimed. "The two of you are hereby…"

BOOM!

Frosta was interrupted by the sound of an explosion followed by the entire castle shaking. Everyone panicked again.

"Heat bombs?" Sari asked trying to keep her balance.

"Wait, no." Adora said. "That sounded different."

Glimmer took a look outside the window and saw a very familiar bug shooting a missile out of its mouth. The missile was shot to the side of the castle.

"It's the Decepticons!" Glimmer shouted.

"WHAT?!" Adora asked. "How did they know we'd be here?"

"How indeed." Catra replied with a smile on her face. She immediately ran out while Glimmer teleported Adora out of the ice.

Meanwhile outside, Waspinator stopped firing missiles. "Waspinator tired of spitting projectiles. Waspinator do this gun way. Waspinator… TERRORIZE!" He shifted into this robot form and fired his pistol at the castle.

"What are we going to do?" Sari asked.

"I'll have to use my Runestone to repair the damage." Frosta said. "You save the guests and try to stop those robots!"

"Right!" Adora said as she ran out to where she saw Catra escaping.

Glimmer did her own search too. She ran outside to find Bow and Fixit being dragged to a Horde ship. She tried to save them only to be stung into unconsciousness herself by Scorpia.

* * *

Adora chased Catra to the roof. She attacked her, but the feline Horde soldier kept dodging with her hands in her pocket.

"Catra, why are you siding with the Decepticons?" Adora asked.

"It's not like you left me with many options." Catra replied. "It was either them or Kyle. That's a no-brainer."

"Catra, this isn't a game!"

"It was never a game to me! I'm after something bigger, and I won't let you keep me from it!" She smiled as she saw something coming. "And speaking of something bigger…"

Adora was caught off-guard by the sudden gust of wind that followed the fighter jet flying above her. The jet shifted itself until it was revealed to be Starscream.

"Adora, I believe you've met Starscream." Catra said.

"So this is the mighty She-Ra without her sword." Starscream said. "Honestly, I'm unimpressed."

"But the heat bombs…"

"They were never going to work." Catra admitted. "I just said all that so the rest of the Horde will think that's how I originally planned to blow up this dumb party. They're not as crazy about the 'Cons as I am."

"Hope you enjoyed the last time you used that fancy sword of yours, Adora," Starscream said, "Because you're never going to use it again!" He jumped up, changed into his vehicle mode, and flew away.

Catra smiled as she took a step back to the edge of the roof. Suddenly, the Horde ship hovered behind her. She jumped in the open cockpit where Scorpia, Lonnie, and Kyle were holding Bow, Glimmer, Fixit, and the sword captive. Adora was stunned at the sight.

"What happened?" Lonnie asked. "I thought the heat bombs were going to destroy the castle."

"Guess they were defective." Catra shrugged. "It doesn't matter now. Their night still got ruined and we've got a few consolation prizes." She looked back at her new prisoners.

"Adora, save yourself… after you save us!" Fixit shouted.

As the cockpit began to close, Catra laughed. It flew off in a direction different from the Decepticons. Adora was left on the roof completely horrified at the events that happened. The party was ruined, her sword was taken, and her friends were kidnapped. And the worst part was she couldn't do anything about it. Now, the only question left was…

What's next?

* * *

**Author's Note: **_And thus begins the turning point for Season 1. Next time is the first Autobot/princess team-up mission. Will Bow, Glimmer, and Fixit be saved? Will Adora ever be reunited with her sword again? Find out next time._

_Any and all comments are welcome._


	9. No Autobot Left Behind

Starscream laughed his head off at his ship's command center. The other Decepticons merely watched their commander as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"Now, that was exhilarating! I haven't had that much fun in decades! And the best part: we didn't even get a fight! We pulled off that plan without a hitch!"

"Well, I'm glad you're able to praise yourself, Commander Starscream," Knock Out said, "But let's not celebrate just yet. I mean, this plan so far has only benefitted the Horde."

"As soon as the reports state how much we've helped, Lord Hordak will welcome us into his inner circle in no time." Starscream said.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Catra responded as her face appeared on Soundwave's visor.

"Catra. To what do we owe the surprise call?" Starscream asked.

"You're not going to believe this." Catra said. "Shadow Weaver omitted you guys' help from our reports. Hordak still has no idea you guys exist."

"What?" Starscream asked. "But what about the sword? And the princess? The damage we did to the Kingdom of Snows?"

"Shadow Weaver's taking credit for them all." Catra said. "She said any plan I make that works is hers by proxy."

"Guess that didn't work, huh?" Strika asked.

Starscream growled. "Where's the princess, the archer, and the Minicon we helped capture?"

"The guy with the exposed belly-button is in his cell next to the tiny bot. As for sparkles, Shadow Weaver's holding her in the Black Garnet Chamber, which is like her private sanctum. Hordak's planning to exchange the princess for her mom's surrender. She 's got until the morning."

"Well, this is just perfect." Starscream complained. "All this planning, and we just…" He stopped ranting and widened his eyes. "Wait. You said the queen's got until morning to surrender, right?"

"Yeah." Catra said. "Why?"

"If so, then that means the Autobots will attempt a rescue tonight." Starscream said. "They'll probably bring their human buddies as well."

"Yeah, that does sound like something Adora would do." Catra said.

"What are you getting at Starscream?" Knock Out asked.

Starscream chuckled before turning to his team. "Everyone, I have a plan."

* * *

Adora and Hot Rod entered the war room where they caught Queen Angella burying her face in her hands. Arcee stood behind her with an equally worried look.

"Queen Angella…" Adora said.

"I never should have let her leave the castle." Queen Angella said. "Glimmer's captured and it's all…"

"With all due respect, your highness," Hot Rod said, "We're all equally at fault here. I mean, me and Arcee couldn't go to that party to stop the Horde and Cons."

"But now, she, Bow, and Fixit are prisoners in the middle of the Fright Zone." Arcee added.

"Hordak's given me an ultimatum." Angella said. ""My surrender in exchange for my daughter's freedom. …And I'm going to accept it."

"Your majesty, you can't." Hot Rod said. "If you're caught, the rebellion is destroyed."

"I'm Glimmer's mother. I don't know what else to do."

"Well… We may try to rescue her." Adora said. "I know the Fright Zone inside and out."

"We'll do the best we can, Queen Angella." Hot Rod said.

Adora and Hot Rod left the war room, and Arcee followed. She grabbed Hot Rod by his shoulder and turned him around.

"Hold on." She said. "I think that's a bad idea."

"What?" Hot Rod asked. "What are you talking about? We could save Glimmer, Bow, and Fixit."

"We could also lose them." Arcee said. "If the Horde catches us sneaking into their prison, they may end up killing their prisoners. I can't approve of a plan with that much risk."

"We can't just let Hordak get away with it." Adora said. "Besides, Glimmer is your partner. I thought you'd be onboard with it."

"Yes, Glimmer is my partner." Arcee said. "That's why I can't let this happen. If something happens to her, that's on me."

"So you suggest we let the Horde take over Etheria?" Hot Rod asked. "When Optimus gets here, he'll be blown up on arrival."

"I don't have all the answers, Hot Rod, but I do know that this mission you're suggesting will suggest will either lead to someone getting hurt or worse, especially since Glimmer's at the mercy of the enemy. I can't lose another partner."

"Another?" Hot Rod asked. "Wait, is this about what happened to Mirage? You never said anything about…"

"ENOUGH" Arcee shouted. She took a deep breath and clamed down. "My decision is final. As commander of this squad, I am ordering you to stay in Bright Moon until we can come up with a better solution. Good day." She turned around and left the hallway.

"Is it just me, or is she even more bitter than before?" Adora asked.

"Sounds like good, ol' Arcee to me." Hot Rod said. "And I thought she had gotten more open after Dryl. Well, one thing's for sure, we're heading for the Fright Zone."

"Just the two of us?"

"Not really." A familiar voice answered.

Three princesses, three Autobots, a sailor, and Sari stood in the doorway. Seaspray and Prowl stood behind Mermista and Perfuma and Bumblebee stood between Entrapta and Sea Hawk.

"The princess alliance is back." Mermista said. "Sounds like you need help?"

"Really?" Hot Rod asked. "Guys, you didn't hear what Arcee just said?"

"Oh, we heard." Seaspray said.

"But this rescue plan is literally all we have left." Prowl answered.

Bumblebee buzzed.

"Anything for adventure!" Sea Hawk answered.

"Besides, I need my assistant back." Entrapta said.

"It's too bad Frosta had to stay in her kingdom to repair the damage the 'Cons caused." Sari said. "But anyway, I'm more than ready."

"So what's the plan?" Perfuma asked.

* * *

Fixit hugged himself while lamenting in his isolated cell.

"So cold. So cramped. Hope is slowly fading. I thought I would be helpful, but it turns out all my dreams are in vain. I couldn't save Cybertron. I couldn't save Bumblebee's voice box. And now, after so long, I'm losing all hope of saving this new world I was just getting used to."

"Um…" Kyle said nervously as he slipped in the dinner. "You've only been here for three hours. Anyway, here are your rations."

"Cybertronians don't really have to eat," Fixit said, "But thanks anyway, Lyle… Rile… Kyle!"

"How do you know my name?"

"I overheard your conversation with Bow at the next cell. You're not like the rest of the Horde people I've met before."

"Um… thanks." Kyle said as he walked away.

"Fixit?" Bow's voice could be heard from the next cell over. "That is you."

"Hey, Bow." Fixit said. "How are you?"

"Worried about Glimmer." Bow said. "Anyway, I couldn't help but overhear you earlier. What was that about Bumblebee's voice?"

Fixit widened his eyes before lowering them. "Do I have to?"

"You don't," Bow answered, "But I don't see any way for us to escape, so this might be good to pass the time while something happens."

Fixit sighed. "All right. When I was first made, I was immediately assigned to be Bumblebee's Minicon. I was to help him on scouting missions and provide aide whenever he needed it. Though I was a little glitchy, he didn't mind. Back then, he could like normally. But all that changed when the two of us were scouting for any unusual activity on Kaon, the Decepticon capital. It was supposed to be in and out, but we got caught. The Decepticons surrounded us and Bumblebee fought them off so I could leave."

"And did you?" Bow asked.

"Of course not." Fixit said. "I was an Autobot. I wasn't going to let him handle the 'Cons on his own. I turned back to follow them as they dragged Bumblebee to Megatron himself. He tortured him for information, but Bee never gave in. I looked up and saw that a loose scaffolding could be used as a pendulum against Megatron, so I climbed up to unscrew it. I went as fast as I could, but it was too late. Megatron had already tortured Bumblebee to the point where his voice box had been severely damaged. True, the plan did work and we escaped Kaon, but our best surgeons couldn't repair the damage. And so, Bumblebee was forced to speak through his beeps and buzzes ever since."

"Wow." Bow commented. "I knew Megatron was bad, but that was cruel."

"And the worst part is that I didn't do more." Fixit said. "Ever since, I was afraid that my best wouldn't be enough. That though I try everything I could, I would be too small or weak to save somebody."

"Hey, don't worry. I believe in you, Fixit. You won't let us down. And hey, this is the longest you've gone without glitching."

"It is?" Fixit smiled. "Oh, yes! I think my luck is finally cha… cha… cha…" SMACK! "Changing… Or perhaps maybe not."

The two of them shared a laugh.

* * *

Adora led everyone to her room. The Autobots stood outside listening through the window.

"This is why we need to make this castle Autobot-sized." Seaspray said. "And I'm a big guy by Cybertronian standards."

"Okay." Adora said passing out a collection of random items. "This boot is the Horde prison. Glimmer, Bow, and Fixit are being held inside. Entrapta, this perfume bottle is you. Perfuma, you're the nail polish. Hot Rod, this ball. Prowl, the book. Seaspray, plate. Sari, broach. Mermista, lipstick."

"Ew!" Mermista shouted. "Do you know what that stuff is made of? I'll be a knife."

"I feel like Perfuma should be the perfume bottle." Entrapta said. "That makes the most logical sense."

"Maybe I can be a flower." Perfuma said.

"Why am I a plate?" Seaspray asked.

"I feel the book fits me." Prowl said.

"Can I be this miniature painted model of Bow?" Sea Hawk asked.

"No! The painted models that look like Bow, Glimmer and me represent Bow, Glimmer, and me. Just focus. Out point of entry will be near the Horde's scrapyard. It's close to the prison and lightly guarded. Perfuma, Entrapta, Prowl, and Sari will access the security tower and wait for my signal to disable the lights. Mermista will access the Fright Zone's sewer system. She'll swim through the pipes into the building and open the door."

"Excuse me. Mermista will what?" Mermista asked.

"I know it sounds bad," Adora said, "But you're the only one who can breathe underwater."

Mermista groaned. She didn't like the idea, but she knew she had no choice.

"Sea Hawk, Seaspray, Hot Rod, Bumblebee and I will take up position by the entrance." Adora continued. "We'll neutralize any guards on patrol. Entrapta, Perfuma, Prowl, and Sari will regroup on our position and the team will enter when Mermista opens the door."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Hot Rod said. "Now, let's get to work."

"Before we go," Entrapta said, "I think I should give the Autobots something that may help us. I notice that none of your vehicle modes don't have any room for passengers, so here." She used her hair to drop chips into the Autobots' hands.

"What are these?" Prowl asked.

"They're specs for new vehicle designs Fixit and I came up with." Entrapta said. "Just scan these, and your new vehicle modes will be able to hold us Etherians. Should make it easier for all of us to keep up."

"Really?" Hot Rod asked. "Thanks." He and most of the other Autobots scanned the chips in their hands.

Entrapta noticed that Seaspray was the only one who wasn't scanning. "What's up?"

"I appreciate the chips, really." Seaspray said. "But it's a bit moot at this point."

"Huh?" Entrapta asked scratching her head with her tendril.

"Seaspray can't transform." Mermista said. "He doesn't have his part. Some Decepticon broke it in a fight a long time ago."

"You mean the T-Cog?" Entrapta asked. "Well, shoot. Don't worry, after we save our friends, I can repair it for you."

"You repair me?" Seaspray asked. "No offense, kid, but this is alien technology centuries ahead of what you got. How can you fix a delicate Cybertronian organ when even Ratchet, our top physician, can't?"

"With First Ones tech, of course." Entrapta answered.

…

"Say what now?" Seaspray asked. "You can fix me with First Ones tech?"

"Sure. I've already found a way to merge it with other forms of technology, even Cybertronian. I'm sure I can fix your T-Cog with First Ones technology as a substitute with your broken parts."

Seaspray fell silent. "Mermista, when we're done, let's go to Dryl!"

"I had a feeling." Mermista said.

* * *

Sure enough, so far, the plan was going well, more or less. After sneaking into the Fright Zone, Mermista reluctantly—very reluctantly—swam through the sewers while everyone got in their positions. Prowl used his stealth to bring Sari, Perfuma, and Entrapta into the security tower where they waited for their signal. Of course, Entrapta got distracted by the Horde's internal wiring.

Lastly, Hot Rod, Seaspray, and Bumblebee brought Adora and Sea Hawk near the door where two guards stood.

"Mermista should be in place by now." Adora said. She picked up a hand-held mirror and used it to flash her signal to the security tower team. Of course, it was hard to keep Entrapta focused. When the guards wondered what happened to the lights that just went off.

"Looks like it worked." Hot Rod said.

"Good. We go on three." Adora whispered. "One…"

"FORWARD!" Sea Hawk shouted getting the two guards attention.

Hot Rod groaned as he jumped from his hiding place. He went to the two guards and pushed them against each other forcefully knocking them out. Everyone gave annoyed glares at Sea Hawk.

"You were supposed to wait for the count of three." Adora said.

"I got excited." Sea Hawk said.

Bumblebee buzzed while pointing at the sailor.

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Bee." Seaspray said.

"Let's just get going." Hot Rod said as he approached the door. Just then, something caught his eye that was coming to him. "Uh, oh. Hide."

"Hide from what?" Sea Hawk asked while everyone else jumped. He was the only one who was seen by Scorpia, who stopped her hovercraft right behind him.

"Halt!" Scorpia commanded approaching the sailor. "Who goes there?"

"Me?" Sea Hawk asked. "Why, I'm… the inspector obviously. I'm here to… inspect… all the things."

"Inspector?" Scorpia asked. She stared at him for a minute while he got nervous. "Oh, of course! The inspector! We're long overdue for an inspection, but I assure you, we are up to code. Come on."

Scorpia fell for it much better than planned. She lead Sea Hawk away from the door leaving Adora and the Autobots in total surprise.

"What in Primus' name just happened?" Hot Rod asked.

"I don't know." Adora said. "We had a plan!"

"Actually…" Entrapta said as she was dragged by Perfuma's vine. She pulled Entrapta over with Prowl and Sari. "You lost me at the perfume bottle."

"Why is she tied up?" Hot Rod asked.

"Forgive me." Perfuma said. "Harmonious cooperation with Entratpa can me… a challenge."

"She's saying she can't stay still for one second." Sari interpreted.

That's when the door opened up with Mermista on the other side all soaking wet with sewer water. She didn't look happy either.

"You're welcome." She said.

"Well, glad things are somewhat going fine," Adora said, "But Sea Hawk is still in trouble."

Seaspray sighed. "Fine. I'll go save the idiot."

* * *

Sea Hawk took a good look at the scrapyard pretending to examine it. He was really nervous at the Horde force captain overseeing him.

"Well, based on my inspector observations," he said, "I'd say this place is up to code. Now, if you don't mind, I'll go file my report and…"

"Wait." Scorpia said. "I think I know you from somewhere. …Oh, yeah! You were at the princess prom with that fish princess."

"Hey, she has a name!" Sea Hawk shouted before realizing what he said. "Uh, I mean, I don't know what you're talking about."

Scorpia gave a scowl and took a fighting stance. "You're with the rebellion!"

"About time you figured it out." Seaspray said behind her.

Scorpia turned around to see the Autobot over her holding out a finger. He swung it over her head knocking her out instantly.

"Whew." Sea Hawk said. "Thank you, my friend."

"Don't mention it. Really, don't." Seaspray said. "Now, let's…"

He stopped when he heard a buzzing sound. Up in the sky, a large insect flew to their direction. Sea Hawk instantly moved into hiding. When it landed on the ground, it changed into its robot mode after saying "Waspinator, terrorize!"

"You again?" Seaspray asked. "Look, bugbrain, I really don't have time for this. The sooner I can get this done, the sooner I can fix my T-Cog."

The Predacon buzzed as he raised his fists. "Waspinator have a job to do. Waspinator gotta scrap Autobot."

Waspinator threw a punch, but Seaspray grabbed his wrist. He pulled him off balance before slamming his elbow on his shoulder so hard, the Predacon's arm was snapped off.

"There." Seaspray said throwing the arm aside. "Now, do yourself a favor and just…" He was interrupted when Waspinator threw a punch with his other hand. Of course, the Wrecker dodged it. "Have you lost it? What do you think you're doing?"

"Fighting you." Waspinator answered.

"How do you think you can beat me? You're missing an arm."

"Am not."

"What?" Seaspray asked. He pointed at the severed arm. "Look at that!"

"…I've had worse." Waspinator replied. He sent a punch again, but Seaspray caught it and ripped it off as well.

"There. Now, are you done?"

"Not by a long shot!" Waspinator replied as he began kicking.

"You can't be serious!" Seaspray shouted beginning to be very annoyed. "You're in pieces!"

"…Flesh wound." Waspinator kicked, but Seaspray ripped it off like he did his arms. He was left with only one leg he's hopping on "Oh, I'll get Seabot for that."

"YOU'LL WHAT?" Seaspray shouted completely stunned. Waspinator kept bumping into him in vain. "You've only got one leg! What are you going to do, bleed Energon all over me?"

"WASPINATOR INVINCIBLE!"

"Waspinator loony." Seaspray said as he grabbed the Predacon's head and ripped it off.

"…All right. We'll call it a draw."

Seaspray sighed. "You just don't give up, do you?"

Suddenly, Seaspray was tackled from the side by a bigger figure than Waspinator. Strika struck him and made him drop Waspinator's head.

"You?" Seaspray asked.

"Hey there." Strika said as she began to wrestle him down. Seaspray got back up and fought back while Sea Hawk snuck out of his hiding place.

"Oh, that's not good. I should do something. I gotta get the others."

* * *

The fighting was heard inside of the prison compound. The Autobots and princesses stopped in their tracks when they felt the area shake.

"What was that?" Perfuma asked.

"I don't know, but something tells me it means we don't have much time." Adora said. She looked into the computer and searched. "I can't find Glimmer, but I do know where Bow and Fixit's cells are."

Suddenly, everyone noticed the giant, three-legged drone standing behind them with its round body and purple lights. The Autobots readied for battle until Entrapa came from behind it.

"It's okay!" she insisted. "This is my new friend, Emily. I just found her and reprogrammed her."

"Of course, you did." Sari said placing a hand on her face.

That's when Sea Hawk ran back to the group. She stopped in front of Mermista and smiled at her.

"Sea Hawk." Mermista said. "Where's Seaspray?"

"Right. We have a problem." Sea Hawk said. "The Decepticons are here."

"The Decepticons are what?" Prowl asked in shock.

"We don't have much time then." Adora said. "Let's go!"

* * *

"Okay. My turn." Bow asked.

"Are you… a quark-gluon plasma?" Fixit asked.

"I don't think you know how to play 20 Questions." Bow said. Their game was interrupted by Kyle who stopped in front of them. "Kyle? What are you doing here?"

"I should be in the barracks." Kyle said. "Lonnie has me covering her latrine duties. Listen, I'm probably going to get in so much trouble, but I think I should tell you, Shadow Weaver is keeping your friend, Glimmer, in the Black Garnet Chamber."

"That sounds bad." Fixit said.

"You have no idea." Kyle said nervously.

"Why are you telling us this?" Bow asked. "Aren't we your prisoners?"

"Well, I wasn't planning to," Kyle explained, "But then, you two actually treated me nice and you're trying to do so much for your friend. I thought if I told you this one little thing, maybe… we could be friends too."

Bow and Fixit weren't very comfortable with this sudden proposal from their captor. But then, Fixit smiled as an idea popped in his head.

"You know what, Kyle, you may be onto something." Fixit said. "In fact, to show you, I'd like to ask for your help with something."

"Really?" Kyle asked cracking a grin. "What?"

"As it so happens, I know some ma-ma-ma…" SMACK! "Magic tricks."

"You do?" Kyle asked.

"You do?" Bow repeated confused.

"Yep. In fact, I've been working on this one trick, but I need a partner. Would you mind…"

"Oh, sure!" Kyle said excitedly. He opened the cage door and entered the cell standing next to the Minicon. "Now what?"

"Now, I want you to close your eyes… and put your head on the floor." Without any other thought, Kyle did as he was told. "Now, I want you to say the words, 'Owa tafu lyam', four times."

Kyle giggled as he proceeded. "Owa tafu lyam. Owa tafu lyam. Owa tafu lyam. Owa tafu lyam." Kyle opened his eyes to see the trick… only to find out exactly what it was. He looked around and saw that he was standing in the cell alone and the electric fence was turned on by Fixit who was standing outside. Kyle stood there dumbfounded as he finally interpreted the magic words. "Oh, what a fool I am."

Fixit went to Bow's cell and opened it letting the archer out.

"Was that really necessary?" Bow asked.

"Not my first voice… noise… choice, but we have to escape." Fixit said. "Now, let's go before…"

Before he could continue, Fixit and Bow turned to see the other two, more competent, Horde cadets, Lonnie and Rogelio. They had their shock batons in hand.

"Before that happens." Fixit continued.

"Really, Kyle?" Lonnie asked. "This is why you don't talk to the prisoners. Now, we're the ones who are gonna have to…"

"Ahem."

The cadets stiffened as they turned around. They saw the princesses and the Autobots standing behind them.

"Hate to break it to you, but we're getting out of here with our friends." Hot Rod said. "Now, let's…"

Once again, the conversation was interrupted by something unexpected. The wall behind the Autobots burst open revealing Soundwave and Knock Out standing there.

"Seriously?" Adora asked. "Can anything else happen?"

Right on cue, another wall blew up. Seaspray and Strika fell out of the upper level and landed in between the Bots and the Cons. They separated from each other and returned to their respective groups.

"Whoa." Seaspray said as he took a look at the situation. "Looks like we've got ourselves a Mexican standoff… whatever that means."

"Don't take it personally, everyone." Knock Out said as his hand changed into a buzz saw. "It's just business."

A fight erupted between the three. Hot Rod tangled with Knock Out, Seaspray faced against Strika, and Prowl and Bumblebee tried to double-team Soundwave. Meanwhile, the princesses crossed their magic and weapons against Lonnie and Rogelio while Sari and Sea Hawk ran to Bow and Fixit for support. Up in the control room above, Entrapta and Mermista could see the fight below.

"Hey, geek princess," Mermista said, "We've got to help them."

"On it. Let's see what this baby can do!" Entrapta said excitedly. She quickly took bits from the machine and fiddled around with the controls. That caused the elevator it controlled to go up and down separating some of the fighters away from the others, including Adora and Lonnie.

"You turned on us and you think you can just come back?" Lonnie asked angrily trying to strike Adora with the shock baton. The blonde girl blocked it with a pipe.

"I had to come back! You took my friends!"

"We were your friends too!"

Suddenly, the elevator the two were on stopped and dropped straight down knocking the two off balance. Back at the command center, Rogelio came in trying to wrestle Entrapta away from the controls, but Mermista shot a blast of water that sent the lizard guy out.

Back at the fight below, Prowl and Bumblebee had just cornered Soundwave near the edge when Perfuma came from behind and wrapped several large vines around the mute Decepticon. Meanwhile, Hot Rod stood confronting Knock Out.

"You wanna fight?" he asked.

"Actually, I prefer a staring contest." Knock Out answered.

He got neither. Seaspray caught him by surprise from behind by kicking Strika right at him.

Adora went to Bow and Fixit. "Good to see you two all right. Where's Glimmer?"

"Shadow Weaver has her in a place called the Black Garnet Chamber." Bow answered. That response made Adora widen her eyes with a sign of fear. "Does that mean anything?"

Adora paused for a moment. "Don't worry. We'll get her back. Let's go!"

Everyone saw Adora leaving and followed her leaving their opponents incapacitated. On their way out through the hallways, Adora explained the situation.

"Security level has risen. That means that this hallway we're in is going to seal up different parts and shoot fire to purge it of any intruders. So you can't afford to hesitate. Once you make it outside, get to the outskirts. I'll meet you there with Glimmer."

"Wait, you're not coming?" Hot Rod asked. "In that case, I'm going with you."

"It's too dangerous, Rod. Don't worry. I'll be okay."

Something inside Hot Rod told him Adora wasn't saying everything, but he didn't say anything. Adora went to a different hallway separate from the other one. Hot Rod paused for a minute watching her leave.

"Hot Rod, what are you doing?" Sari asked. "We need to go!"

"You guys go ahead." Hot Rod said. "I'm gonna keep an eye on Adora." He changed into his vehicle mode and followed his partner while the others continued.

* * *

When Horde soldiers surrounded Adora, she immediately surrendered. She was brought to the dark room with the Black Garnet runestone standing proudly at the center. The soldiers strapped Adora to a table right next to where Glimmer was held up by red electricity.

"Adora!" Glimmer gasped.

"Glimmer, don't worry. I will get you out of this." Adora said.

Shadow Weaver and Catra entered the room clearly proud of their work. The sorceress dismissed the soldiers and turned to Catra.

"Go to your Force Captain quarters and pack your things. Now that Adora has returned, you are no longer needed."

Catra's pride quickly changed to envy and anger. "Seriously? After everything I did, you still want her over me?"

"I said go! And while you're at it, get those alien machines out of the Fright Zone!"

Catra growled silently as she exited the room.

"Shadow Weaver," Adora said, "I will stay willingly if you want, but please, whatever you do, let Glimmer go."

"Adora, no!" Glimmer shouted.

"Oh, you'll stay willingly all right," Shadow Weaver said as she crept closer to her favored ward, "Because I am going to wipe your mind. You won't have any memories of She-Ra or your time in the rebellion. And when we're done, you will want to keep the princess as your prisoner!"

"What? No!" Adora protested, but Shadow Weaver already placed both of her hands on the sides of her head beginning her spell. Glimmer tried to help, but she couldn't teleport out of her confinement.

All of a sudden, the door blew up after a blast. The explosion made Shadow Weaver lose focus and interrupted the spell. The sorceress turned to see Hot Rod standing there pointing his blaster at her.

"You, with the personality, freeze!"

"No!" Shadow Weaver shouted. With a wave of her hand, Hot Rod was quickly covered with shadows tangling around him like rope. "Isn't that just like an alien machine? Always showing up where you're not wanted."

"Yeah, you'd know something like that, wouldn't you?" Hot Rod retorted. "I'm giving you this one chance to let me, Adora, and Glimmer go. Otherwise, I'll make sure you'll regret saying no."

Adora stirred herself awake happy to see her partner.

"If you think I'm ever letting Adora leave and waste her potential, you're sorely mistaken." Shadow Weaver said.

"Waste her potential?" Hot Rod asked. "What are you babbling about?"

"Adora's special. I knew it the moment I first laid eyes on her. Hordak. Catra. None of them know how special she really is, how powerful she can become. If I could utilize that power…"

"So that's what this is about. You only want Adora because of this 'hidden potential' she's got. Is that why you've been lying to her saying the Horde are the good guys?"

"There is no good or evil. Only power is the universal constant that matters."

"Interesting theory. But that doesn't change the fact that YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR MIND! I mean, you have to resort to amnesia to keep Adora around!"

"I will do whatever it takes for Adora!" Shadow Weaver said as she turned around back to Adora.

Hot Rod saw the red lightning and noticed that it was similar to what was being emitted from the Black Garnet. He grew stern as he saw he only had one option.

"So will I." Hot Rod replied as he struggled to escape the shadows.

Shadow Weaver noticed the Autobot's attempts to get out and was surprised to see him get his gun out. He aimed it, but not at Shadow Weaver, but at the Black Garnet. Before the sorceress could react, Hot Rod fired the blast and it made direct impact with the runestone. That set off a chain reaction that shot red lightning all over the room. One of the bolts hit Shadow Weaver knocking her out. Another one blasted Glimmer out of her cage.

When the chaotic burst was over, Glimmer took a breath as she went on over to free Adora and regroup with the exhausted Hot Rod.

"Hot Rod, Adora, are you two okay?"

"Good as ever." Adora said softly.

"In that case, let's get out of here before Shadow Weaver wakes up." Hot Rod suggested.

* * *

One door after another, the Autobots continued their routine. Entrapta uses her new robot, Emily, to open the next door, they make a mad dash through before it closes, and the room they just leave erupts into green fire. The process went on and on until eventually, they made it outside.

"Great!" Bow shouted.

"Everyone, we've got to circle around the area for Hot Rod, Adora, and Glimmer." Prowl said.

A beeping sound made Entrapta turn around to the still open hallway. She noticed Emily's plug stuck on the outlet inside.

"Hold on!" Entrapta shouted as she ran straight back inside.

Fixit noticed Entrapta and widened his eyes. "ENTRAPTA, NO!" He raced on over towards her, but at the last second, it was too late. The door between Entrapta and her partner closed right before the openings of the inside burst into green flames.

Everyone gasped and fell silent at what just happened. But Fixit was the one who was most upset at what just happened as he realized something horrible.

"I… I failed again."

* * *

Adora, Hot Rod, and Glimmer continued to run out from one room to another. They stopped when they came across a sealed door.

"Glimmer, get us out of here." Adora said.

The princess of Bright Moon strained herself for a moment, but instantly, her body glowed red and sparked electricity. "AH! I… I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't?" Hot Rod asked.

"I'm trying, but it hurts too much. My powers aren't working."

"It must have been that lightning strike back at the chamber, right?" Adora asked.

"What?" Hot Rod asked feeling guilty.

The three of them stopped when they heard the sound of metal scrapping behind them. Out of the darkness, Catra crept toward them softly scratching the wall with Adora's sword. She had no positive expression on her face at all.

"Don't you dare, Catra." Hot Rod said.

Catra glared at him before holding out the sword, pointing the handle end to Adora. "Take it."

The three of them grew surprised. They didn't expect this.

"Say… what now?" Hot Rod asked.

"It's not because I like you." Catra scowled. "Just take it and go."

Carefully, Adora accepted the sword and changed into She-Ra. She broke down the door while Catra left in the other direction. The three of them advanced forward, but what they didn't realize was that up above, there was a witness. Lazerbeak was perched above watching everything.

* * *

The Autobots continued trekking along the outskirts until they caught three familiar figures before them. They called out and met up with She-Ra, Glimmer, and Hot Rod.

"Man, it's good to see you guys!" Hot Rod shouted in glee. "It's been a really crazy ten minutes! I'll tell you all about…"

"Wait." Adora said looking around. "Where's Entrapta?"

The other Autobots lowered their heads too afraid to say anything. It was then Mermista who broke the silence.

"She's gone."

The rescued trio felt a wave of despair washing over them as they interpreted the two words that were said.

"No." Adora said changing back to normal.

"It's true." Fixit said sullenly. "I failed my partner… again." Bumblebee turned to him with sympathy in his eyes.

Everyone stopped traveling halfway through the forest to get the chance to lament on the events that came before. Seaspray was so upset, he punched a tree making it fall to the ground.

"How could this happen?" he asked angrily.

"It's my fault." Adora said glumly. "Entrapta's gone because of my plan."

"No, Adora." Hot Rod said sharing in her pain. "It's my fault."

Mermista kept quiet for a second before voicing her opinion. "This only happened because we were all together."

"What?" Adora asked.

"She's right." Perfuma sobbed. "Being together makes us vulnerable."

"I know you're all upset, but…" Prowl said.

"But what?" Mermista asked. "Look, maybe there's a reason the old Princess Alliance fell apart. Even with this 'Autobot protection program', it didn't work. Maybe the whole thing was a mistake."

"Mermista, you can't mean that." Glimmer said.

"Whatever." Mermista said. "Sea Hawk, take me home. And Seaspray…" She looked up at her Autobot partner. "I'm sorry, but I think I need some time to myself."

"Same with me, Prowl." Perfuma continued to sob. "I'm sorry.

Seaspray sighed. "I understand."

"Take all the time you need." Prowl said.

Slowly, each of the other princesses went their respective ways. Even Sari returned to Mystacor to think about what just happened. And when they all returned to their homes, they reinforced their barriers even higher and stronger. The alliance was actually done.

* * *

The remaining rebels didn't say a word after their allies left. Instead, they kept on moving until Bright Moon castle was within sight.

"Well, I guess we're home." Bow said almost without emotion. "What do you think we should tell everyone?"

"Tell them whatever you want." Hot Rod said before turning around.

"Hot Rod, what are you doing?" Adora asked.

Hot Rod didn't turn around to face his partner. "…I'm sorry, but I can't go back to Bright Moon with you."

"What?" Prowl asked. "Why not?"

"Because I know how Arcee will react when she learns what happened. She'll yell at me saying how I should've listened to her and how much I failed. She'll blame me for it… just like before."

"Hot Rod, you can't just leave." Adora said. "I don't know what happened between you and Arcee, but we can still…"

"Not this time, Adora. I'm sorry, but Arcee is usually the one with the best judgement. And look at me. I could have just forced you all not to go. Maybe then, we could have found a better solution. Now, because of me, we lost our allies, a friend died, and Glimmer's powers are on the fritz. She wouldn't have chosen something like that. She's got great judgement. It's one of the things I admire very much about her. And now… I'm sorry, but I can't face her disappointed in me. I just can't. Goodbye."

Hot Rod changed into vehicle mode and roughly drove out into the forest. The others did nothing but watch him disappear. Adora hung her head down low feeling even worse than before.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_I'm so glad I was able to do this. I know some of the last bit was in the beginning of the next episode, but I thought of putting it at the end of this chapter. Next time, we get surprises, secrets, and even Arcee's backstory._

_Any and all comments are welcome._


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